Super Bowl Commercials 2012: Dogs Are the Winning Formula

If there was one thing we learned about the 2012 Super Bowl commercials, it’s that dogs rule.

In a year widely regarded as a disappointment on the ad front, the commercials that were universally praised all involved our furry companions, and they worked.

Volkswagen had a clever commercial about a dog trying to get in shape to squeeze out of the doggy door and be able to chase a car down the street. He was exercising and avoiding tasty meat treats.

Then there was the Doritos commercial that featured a dog bribing his owner not to tattle on him for burying the family cat. What's the bribe? A bag of Doritos of, course. That’s all it took for the owner to keep his mouth shut.

Bud Light ran an ad that featured a rescue dog playing host at a party, and a Suzuki spot featured sled dogs.

Skechers showed a French bulldog outracing a bunch of greyhounds and ending up with enough of a lead at the end of the race that he was able to moonwalk across the finish line.

It’s no secret: Dogs are something that both men and women love, and including canines has become the safest route to go to ensure your Super bowl commercial is a winner.

With an average cost of $3.5 million per 30-second ad, you have to make sure your commercial works, and using a dog significantly ups your odds of succeeding.

So, while David Beckham, Danica Patrick and Clint Eastwood were all paid a hefty sum to promote certain products on Sunday, the real stars of the night were the four-legged ones who only require a couple of sticks of beef jerky in exchange for their acting efforts.

It’s a canine kind of country, and right now dogs are the key to successful advertising.