Super Bowl Commercials 2012: Budweiser and Companies That Always Impress

There are always a couple brands that shine brighter than everybody else on Super Bowl Sunday in the commercial department. Since the commercials receive just as much coverage as the game itself on Monday morning, great ads provide a major boost for the companies they represent.

Here are three companies that keep pumping out memorable commercials despite the constant pressure of living up to their past successes.

Budweiser

Budweiser has been one of the few brands to have success with a variety of different approaches. Whether it's animals like frogs and dalmatians or celebrities such as Cedric the Entertainer, Bud has hit a lot of home runs over the past couple decades.

My favorite Super Bowl commercial of all time is the frogs. It's actually a quite simple commercial compared to some of the extravagant things companies are trying nowadays, but there's just something funny about three frogs chilling out and saying bud-weis-er over and over.

This year's ad is going to feature hockey players, which will be a new approach for Budweiser, but the company will probably emerge as one of the night's winners once again.

Pepsi

If Bud is the king of Super Bowl commercials, Pepsi is a close second. They have also put out a solid group of ads over the years featuring unique concepts. Quite a few times Pepsi has used rival Coca-Cola in their bits, which seems counterproductive but is always funny.

One such example is the commercial above from 1995. One truck driver from each company takes a quick drink from the other guy's can, but the Coca-Cola guy refuses to return it. I guess that finally answers the age-old question about which one is better.

Pepsi takes a different approach this year, using Elton John to promote the brand. It will be interesting to see if the celebrity style works for them like it has for Bud.

E*Trade

The E*Trade baby concept has been marketing gold for the company. Most concepts tend to grow stale with each passing year, but that hasn't been the case for E*Trade. There's just something about a little baby talking about adult things that makes people laugh.

As long as it continues to get positive reviews, there's no reason for them to change course. Fans are basically waiting to see the new baby ad each Super Bowl, so if they went a different direction there would probably be a minor uproar from those who only watch the game for the commercials.

Sure enough, the baby makes his triumphant return in 2012. This time around he serves as the best man in a wedding, which should be interesting to say the least.