The answer is: probably not. But people don't just tune in for the game, but for the commercials as well. Year after year, some of the most memorable commercials of all time appear during the timeouts and halftime breaks.
But it's not just Bud Light frogs; some incredible technology and Internet companies have put out paradigm-shifting commercials that have yet to fade from our memories. Below are 15 of the most memorable, entertaining, and important commercials from past Super Bowls.
1. 2008 CareerBuilder "Follow Your Heart" Commercial
It's such a simple but resonating message: follow your heart. Careerbuilder has had some of the best Super Bowl commercials in recent years, and "Follow Your Heart" doesn't disappoint. Of course their parent company, Tribune Co., recently went bankrupt, so you might not see Careerbuilder blowing a cool $3 million this year...
2 & 3. 2008 E*Trade "Banking Baby" Commercials
These commercials are still airing. They are just that popular. Maybe it's because that baby has swagger. I just can't put my finger on it.
4. 2006 Sprint "Crime Deterrent" Commercial
Who the hell needs an iPhone when you have crime deterrent? Someone needs to build that iPhone app, quick!
On that subject, who would honestly be surprised if Apple has an iPhone commercial in the Super Bowl?
5. 2005 Rejected "GoDaddy Girl" Commercial
GoDaddy made quite a stir with this commercial. No, this commercial never aired (Fox rejected it), but its lack of airing was indeed memorable, as it was one of the boldest commercials after the "Wardrobe Malfunction" of the year before.
6 & 7. 2005/2006 CareerBuilder "Office Monkeys" Commercials
This commercial was a major hit for Careerbuilder. They even wrote a book called Cube Monkeys, which they give out for free if you visit their Chicago office. Careerbuilder intelligently followed up 2005 with another brilliant monkey commercial during Super Bowl XL (the embedded video includes both commercials).
8. 2002 Yahoo! "Talking Dolphin" Commercial
I know what you're thinking - Wait, Yahoo! had a Super Bowl commercial? About Dolphins? Well, they did, and it's a pretty good one. That dolphin knows what he's talking about.
Perhaps this commercial is memorable because it reflects on a time when Yahoo! was the top dog of the Internet, rather than being the butt of every blogger's joke. Perhaps we shouldn't judge Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz by the sale price she gets from Microsoft, but from the quality of Yahoo's next Super Bowl commercial. I predict that will be during Super Bowl M.
9. 2001 E*Trade "Ghost Town" Commercial
The year before, 17 different dot coms spent $2,100,000 each for 30 seconds of airtime. See how much good that did?
E*Trade was one of the few survivors. Even now, it can still afford Super Bowl commercials. This commercial was really a slap in the face of some of the dot com busts, including the company behind the next commercial.
10. 2000 Pets.com Puppet Commercial
Was it a good commercial? No. Is it the epitome of the Dot Com Bubble? Yes. And that's why the Pets.com commercial is memorable.
11. 2000 E*Trade "Wasted $2 Million" Commercial
At least they knew they were wasting millions. But they're still standing, and you can only respect that. They also had the famous "Money out of the Wazoo" commercial that year as well.
12. 1999 Apple "HAL 2000" Commercial
Apple's spoof of 2001: A Space Odyssey pokes fun at another technological milestone: the Y2K Panic. Do you remember buying canned food just in case the world's computer system crashed? HAL 2000 and the Macintosh would have had a field day with that.
13. 1999 Monster.com "When I Grow Up" Commercial
Now THIS is how you do a commercial. This commercial is one that aired for years because it struck a sensitive nerve in all of us. Monster had a winner with this commercial, and although Careerbuilder had the better commercials later on, Monster still has the larger market share.
If we learned anything from the dot com bust, it's this: Super Bowl commercials don't make you into a dominant company.
14. 1984 Apple Macintosh Commercial
Apple's "1984" ad is by leaps and bounds one of the most impactful Superbowl commercials of all time. People harped on that commercial when it was first shown, but it launched the Macintosh brand and brought Apple into fleeting prominence. The commercial is still one of the most viewed commercials of all time.
15. 1976 Xerox Monk Commercial
It may be tough to remember, but the Xerox 9200 was revolutionary for its speed and stability in creating photocopies. You couldn't print, email, or Twitter out documents in 1976, but you could copy at a rate of two pages per second. This commercial hopefully gives you a sense of how far technology has gone.
Even though this Superbowl is nearly worthless without my beloved Chicago Bears, the commercials rarely disappoint. In many cases, Internet and technology companies purchasing Super Bowl commercials is a horrendous waste of money (i.e. Pets.com). But for the smart companies, it can be the ultimate platform to launch a new product (i.e. Apple).