Super Bowl Commercials 2012: Car Ads Will Dominate Air Waves on Sunday

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet (and YouTube, in particular), there won't be too many surprises during Super Bowl XLVI.

As far as commercials are concerned, that is.

The auto industry has already flooded the interwebs with a bevy of high-priced ads that will play on Sunday, with short spurts of a football game involving the New York Giants and the New England Patriots sprinkled in between.

The first over-hyped spot came to us courtesy of Honda, which revived the decidedly anti-establishment character of Ferris Bueller for a blatantly corporate cause—selling cars—in "Matthew's Day Off":

The CR-V doesn't quite compare to Cameron's dad's Ferrari, even if it does come equipped with a dashboard replete with fancy gizmos and modern gadgetry.

The folks at Honda weren't the only ones to link cars and movies in a pre-released Super Bowl ad. Volkswagen delivered its own ode to last year's "The Force" commercial, featuring a costumed Darth Vader kid, with "The Dog Strikes Back: 

The montage of the dog getting in shape is great, but what's the deal with the cutaway to the Chalmun's Cantina? Is it just me, or is the last part just a bit "forced"?

But if you think that's bizarre, just wait 'til you see Jerry Seinfeld's turn as, well, himself, though in desperate search of the keys to the first Acura NSX:

Aside from the "Seinfeld" references being painfully awkward, was it really necessary to stick Jay Leno and his giant chin in the ad?

And why would a celebrity as filthy rich as Jerry Seinfeld be chasing after an Acura? Maybe a Bentley or a Lamborghini, but certainly not an Acura.

Then again, it's certainly better than a CR-V.

In any case, don't expect these to be the only car commercials splashing across your TV screen on Super Bowl Sunday. According to Nielsen, the auto industry has easily outpaced every other major industry that airs ads during the Super Bowl as far as spending is concerned, with car manufacturers shelling out a whopping $172.2 million between 2007 and 2011.

Don't expect that to change this year. If major companies like Honda, Volkswagen and Acura are already leaking their ads, one can only imagine how many more are still in storage, waiting to fill up all 3,784 hours of programming that NBC has already devoted to the Super Bowl.

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