SuperAds?

As I was watching the superbowl last night (which wasn't all that exciting, especially since my team wasn't there) I paid special attention, like most people, to the commercials. There is always hype regarding these superbowl "superads." I think it was on NPR that I heard that the most expensive was $2.9m for a 30 second slot. Seriously?!
Personally I didn't think the commercials were all that notable last night. How many CBS shows were they going to try to push? It was ridiculous, in my opinion. Several full length commercials just on CBS shows, sometimes taking up the entire commercial break was 4 or 5 CBS shows. How many CSI's can they promote?!
There were a few entertaining ones, however, mostly Budweiser ads. Keep in mind that Budweiser held 10 spots, so they had more chances to make an impression. I began to reminisce about past superbowls and what makes these commercials so revolutionary. Do you remember the Budweiser frogs? Again with Budweiser, the "WHHASSSSSSUUUUPPPPPPP?" commercial. What makes superbowl commericals such a big deal? The number of people watching? The most American sport?

I apparently wasn't the only one "underwhelmed" by the ads. In this article from CNN, even the advertising experts state their disappointment. "Boring. Poorly executed. Unmemorable" were some of the ways that experts described the commercials. Ouch!