Competition between car manufacturers during Superbowl 2011

Millions across the United States watch the Superbowl for not only the football game, but to rate the commercials. From this years Superbowl, which aired on February 6 2011, you wouldn't have even guessed that the car industry had previously declined. There were commercials for many various car manufacturers: from GM to BMW. My question to you is, how effective do you think these Superbowl commercials really are for car manufacturers?

Let me lay the figures out for you. It costs anywhere between $2 and $3 million dollars just for a 30 second commercial. With the economy on the upturn, do you think people are really in the market for buying a brand new Mercedes? In my opinion, no. I saw various commercials for different cars so I'm wondering how the competition effects buyers decisions. This is an article I found that compared the effectiveness of each car commercial. http://www.carsdirect.com/automotive-news/2011-superbowl-car-commercials. They quote:

"Of course, shelling out the money to purchase the airtime is only one half of the equation. The next step is to create a compelling commercial that is able to communicate the value and feeling of the brand in a short period of time. Whether it's through humor, playfulness, nostalgia, sexiness, visual inventiveness, music, or celebrity endorsements, each brand tried to get their message across to consumers in the most efficient way possible. Whether they succeed or not is another story."

There is a very large competition between brands during the Superbowl each year, but I have come to realize that car manufacturers have the biggest! Having only 30 seconds of fame, I can imagine how hard it is to get your selling point across. One of the commercials that stood out the most to me, and I can imagine it did to others, was the Volkswagen commercial with Darth Vader. It can be seen below. I wasn't aware this was even a car commercial until halfway into it. The music made you tune in until you knew exactly what it was for. What car commercial do you think stood out the most?