Volkswagen, eTrade ads favorites of UI business students

Plenty of people watch the Super Bowl to be entertained by more than just football.

Every year, University of Iowa business students gather to view the game and rate the million-dollar ads.

In the past, they've rated the commercials from a student's home, but this year, they watched on a big screen inside Kinnick Stadium.

In a world where DVRs and TiVo make it easy to avoid commercials, the Super Bowl is one of the few times advertisers have a captive audience.

UI business students said there are always a few companies every year that people expect to have great ads.

“The Bud Light ones you know are going to be good. You're also going to get some good ones from Pepsi. But, it's the unexpected ones that are the best,” Nick Weiland, 25, of Iowa City said.

“The Pepsi Max ad was my favorite because they got the product in early and it was an easy concept to understand,” said Tara From, 26, of Dodge City, Kan.

Of course, it's possible to enjoy an ad even if you know you're not the target.

“I'm a poor college student. I can't afford much of anything, except for the Doritos,” said Andrew Topps, 26, of LaGrange Park, Ill.

Whether or not anyone goes out and buys anything featured in the commercial breaks depends on the person. But, students say the overall goal is to simply make people laugh and give customers a good feeling about a company's brand.

The students ranked all of the ads. Here are their top five:

• 1. Volkswagen - Vader Commercial
• 2. ETrade- Shh...Don't Say a Word
• 3. Coca-Cola - Crossing the Border
• 4. Bridgestone - Email All
• 5. Audi - Old Luxury