Last night's Super Bowl commercials often fell into one of two categories: Typical escapism or reminders of the sorry state of the economy. Either way, there were few standout spots, especially compared to the fourth-quarter drama of the game itself.

From the mouths of babes in an ad for E-Trade to a Bud Light spot where employees discuss what to cut from the budget, America's economic decline was not ignored.

It might have been the only novel aspect of this batch of commercials. While some of the ads were amusing and others played on viewers' emotions, few are likely to make a lasting impact or have people raving about them around the office water cooler.

As usual, animals were wildly popular: Castrol grease monkeys, the Arby's goat bride and the ubiquitous Budweiser Clydesdale spots -- one with a love story, another with a competitive game of catch with the Dalmatian.

Another recurring theme: Guys are stupid. From the Pepsi Max "I'm good" spot featuring men getting smacked upside the head and electrocuted to the Doritos guy who crunched his dreams into reality before getting hit by a bus, dumb dudes ruled.

The ballyhooed 3-D spots worked better than tonight's "Chuck," which is severely lacking in pop.

The "Monsters vs. Aliens" and SoBe ads made better use of 3-D effects, although the dancing lizards/linebackers remain an acquired taste -- one that's unlikely to be acquired by many.

NBC used some of its promo time to tout its prime-time programming, including the new cop drama "Southland," which was accompanied by soulful guitar strumming.

Locally, WPXI ran a spot featuring news anchor David Johnson with news vans rushing past him and Chopper 11 dipping in from above; it looked like he might get mowed down at any moment.

If you missed any national Super Bowl spots and want to see them, they'll be posted today at Hulu.com.

Here are some of the best and worst ads from last night:

Best nostalgia spot: Pepsi's "Forever Young" ad with Bob Dylan and Will.i.am was resonant and entertaining enough to wedge the song in viewers' heads.

Worst nostalgia spot: The Coke Zero ad with Troy Polamalu that reprised the classic Mean Joe Green Coke ad was needlessly complicated. On second viewing, it made more sense: Coke Zero stole the taste of Coke. The Coke "brand managers" didn't want Coke Zero to steal their 1970s-era ad, too. But do viewers really think about Coke and Coke Zero having different brand managers? Have most viewers even heard of brand managers? The spot was a nice showcase for Polamalu, but he deserves better.

Worst tag line: An ad for the new Toyota Venza ended with, "Ask yourself, are you Venza?" It's both pretentious and nonsensical.

Best movie spot: The new "Star Trek" looks awesome, a complete visual re-invention of the franchise. Disney-Pixar's "Up" looks promising, too.

Worst movie spot: Another "Fast and the Furious"? Was anyone clamoring for that? Really?

Least effective spot: An ad featuring sports stars, including Tiger Woods, for what appeared to be Gatorade. The commercial sent viewers to the Web site MissionG.com, where there's no mention of Gatorade.

Best anthropomorphic character: Telefloral.com's trash-talking flower that berates a woman who opened a box of shipped flowers, saying, "Go home to your romance novels and your fat, smelly cat. No one wants to see you naked!"

Best self-parody: The Priceline.com ad where William Shatner feeds a guy lines to say to his wife and they come out in that stilted, Shatnerian cadence.

Best use of repetition: The CareeerBuilder.com spot was quite effective. Using a "Groundhog Day" approach to storytelling was a smart way to hook viewers. Punching a koala bear was a nice antidote to all the cutesy animal spots that sometimes get too sappy.

First Published: February 2, 2009, 6:45 a.m.