Ranking The Luxe Car Super Bowl Ads

Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi all advertised in the Super Bowl this year, and all three took very different creative strategies.

Mercedes-Benz ran a 60-second ad that tried to call attention to its entire current lineup of vehicles by juxtaposing them against decades of classic Mercedes-Benzes. In the ad, classic Mercedes vehicles start themselves and drive themselves en masse to a place where they can see the new Mercedes vehicles. Hip Hop star Sean John appears in the ad, having had his silver Mercedes start-up on its own and leave his driveway.

BMW ran two ads, one that showcased its all-new X3 crossover, and the fact that all X3 are built at the company's Spartanburg, SC plant. The other ad featured BMW's clean diesel vehicles, contrasting them to the image many have of diesel cars--sooty, stinky and loud.

Audi ran an ad for the new A8 sedan (pictured) depicting a prison break in a fictitious prison for the white collar criminals who are mostly the epitome of affected wealth. Audi, which likes to use comedy in its Super Bowl ads, hired Kenny G for a cameo as a riot suppressant warden.

My ranking of the ads: #1: BMW "Changes; #2 Audi "Release The Hounds"; #3Mercedes-Benz "Welcome"; and #4 BMW "X3".