Best Super Bowl Commercials 2012: Power Ranking the Best Car Ads

We no longer have to look forward to Super Bowl commercials. We merely have to look them up on YouTube and then enjoy them to our hearts' content.

Virtually all of the companies who have ads for this year's Super Bowl have put them online, and the ads that have been leaked online are generating some significant buzz.

Most of the buzz, however, is leaning toward the car commercials. There are always good car ads lined up for the Super Bowl, but this year's crop is going to be memorable for a long time.

For kicks, I have decided to rank the best of the best. Here are the five best car ads for Super Bowl XLVI.

5. Honda: "Matthew's Day Off"

This commercial is a huge hit. Since Honda put it online on Jan. 26, the ad has racked up well over 11 million hits on YouTube. 

The best thing this commercial has going for it is the nostalgia factor. Everybody loves Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and there was a time when Matthew Broderick was the hottest actor under the sun. This ad hearkens back to those good old days.

To be entirely honest, though, this commercial isn't as great as people are making it out to be. While it's nice to see Broderick channeling Ferris again, it all feels just a little contrived. He was much more believable as Ferris when he was in his 20s.

Still, you can't fault the idea. Or the music.

4. Volkswagen: "The Dog Strikes Back"

Volkswagen's famed "The Force" commercial was the best commercial of Super Bowl XLV. It wasn't even close.

As a follow-up, the sequel to "The Force" is both good and bad. The first segment with the fat dog trying to lose weight so it can fit through the front door is hilarious, but the Star Wars stuff at the end doesn't really fit. If you'll pardon the pun, it's forced.

But as a whole, this ad is slightly more creative than Honda's Ferris Bueller ad. The stuff with the dog is as clever as it gets, and at least the Star Wars segment featured some solid production value.

Plus, any time you see Darth Vader force-choking somebody, you've had a good day.

3. Chevrolet: "Happy Grad"

This commercial doesn't start off funny, but it gets there by piling on the craziness. 

For me, the sequence that makes this one a classic is the part where the dude's girlfriend comes up and asks the grad to marry her. The look on the parents' faces is priceless.

Let the record show that a mini-fridge is actually a pretty great graduation gift. It's not exactly a car, mind you, but no graduate should ever get a car for graduation. That's a bit much.

2. Kia: "A Dream Car. For Real Life."

The YouTube description of this video says it all:

"The new 2012 Kia Optima is tearing up the track with Adriana Lima, Chuck Liddell and Motley Crue. Get ready to have your subconscious kicked in the face."

Indeed.

There is no set recipe for pure awesomeness, but combining hot chicks, loud rock and roll and bad asses like Chuck Liddell is always a good way to go about achieving it. This commercial is awesome.

1. Toyota: "It's Reinvented"

I want all of the reinventions in this commercial.

A couch made of hot babes in bikinis? Yes, please.

A masseuse cop? I'll take one of those, too.

A time-travelling baby? Better get on that one, scientists.

A crime-fighting plant? E.P.I.C.

The car looks pretty cool too, but that's beside the point.