• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, February 6, 2012

Madonna may have sparkled, M.I.A may have offended, and the New York Giants may have outplayed the New England Patriots, but one Super Bowl winner is less controversial. Whether it’s the overweight pooch on a mission or Darth Vader’s cameo, Volkswagen’s “Dog Strikes Back” came in as Adbowl’s top dog.

It marks the second year in a row Volkswagen took top honors, and last year’s “Imperial March” has come to be regarded as one of the most popular TV ads ever.

But overall, Steve McKee, president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland and founder of the Adbowl, which kicked off in 2001, tells Marketing Daily this year’s ads weren’t all that hot. “The quality of the game greatly surpassed the quality of the ads, although I do think a close game keeps people glued to their TVs and that's a good thing for the advertisers -- especially those in the third and fourth quarters. And a strong halftime show only adds to expectations -- not that they could be much higher.”

Doritos’ murderous Great Dane came in second, followed by Bud Light’s Rescue Dog, M&M’s Ms. Brown and Skechers’ Mr. Quiggly. (And, yes, that means dogs star in four of the top five spots.)

McKee’s favorites included the Acura ad with Jerry Seinfeld, the Chevy Silverado ad, and the NFL Timeline ad. The duds? “I thought the Century 21 ad was very disappointing, especially after all the teasers they ran setting expectations,” he says. “Samsung spent a lot of money to draw attention to Apple, and GoDaddy, H&M, Fiat and Teleflora took the easy way out, relying on sex rather than an idea.”