This shouldn’t be much of a surprise, but #BrandBowl was trending right next to #SuperBowl in the Twittersphere during the big game today.  While the sports-loving percentage of the country kept their minds focused on the Packers and Steelers, the rest of us admittedly didn’t care so much for the game and instead invested our time in watching the commercials placed neatly between timeouts and end of quarters.  As you know, companies spend millions of dollars for a 30-second spot during the most watched (sporting) event on TV.  So how did they fare this year?  All in all they were alright; nothing wildly spectacular caught my attention but they were definitely some stand outs worth mentioning and watching again.  From beer to cars to Doritos, tech, and movie trailers–it’s all after the break for you to peruse.

Doritos aired a series of ads; these two made me chuckle:

Budweiser‘s “Wild West” ad starring Prison Break‘s Peter Stormare singing “Tiny Dancer”:

Volkswagon‘s “The Force” ad featuring mini Darth Vader:

Eminem took over these Brisk and Chrysler ads:

Chevy is pimping the Cruze’s insanely unnecessary feature of reading Facebook statuses aloud to you:

You can’t sit through an NFL game without seeing the ETRADE baby.  Of the two ads aired tonight, this one’s the winner:

NFL‘s “American Family” ad featuring classic TV moments was a nostalgic treat:

Hyundai went all technologically retro in this ad:

Volkswagon‘s “Black Beetle” commercial was one of my favorites for its slick visuals:

Just who is Miss Evelyn?  Let this smart voice-over from Chevy tell the story:

Because Go Daddy failed to bring the hotness factor this year (sorry Danika), someone had to step in to take the reins, right?  Skechers got Kim Kardashian to get the job done:

TECHNOLOGY

Here’s the followup to Motorola‘s “1984” teaser from last week hyping their new iPad competitor called Xoom:

Created by Anomaly New York, the ad entitled “Empower the People” is set in an Orwellian, 1984-esque world where technology – and people – are limited by restrictive platforms. Enter Motorola XOOM – the tablet to create a better world – and a new day with optimism, openness, freedom and empowerment.

Sony Ericsson is nearly ready to release the oft-rumored (and now official) “PlayStation Phone”, or Xperia Play.  Check out this creepy commercial, and expect to hear more about the Android-powered device on February 13.

Verizon‘s got the iPhone, at long last.  “Yes, I can here you now.”  Boom.

Best Buy brought together Ozzy and The Bieb for this odd ad that confuses viewers with random “G” numbers…it eventually turns into a promotion for BB’s buy-back program.  And yes Bieber, you do look like a girl.

MOVIES

Here’s the first official trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger.  Opens July 22.

New trailer for Jon Favreau’s upcoming sci-fi western Cowboys & Aliens.  Opens July 29.

Action-packed trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Opens July 1.

Here are 30-second spots for Thor & Pirates 4, open May 4 & May 20, respectively.

J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 still remains mysterious but now we’re privy to some awesome visuals and some dialogue.  Opens June 10.

This is the special trailer for Rio which hides a secret code that unlocks a level in Angry Birds.  Can you find it?  (Hint: skip to :27)  (Have the tendency to cheat?  Head over to Mashable where they explain how to unlock the level.)

TELEVISION

FOX premiered the very first trailer for the upcoming sci-fi dino series Terra Nova.  The network has plans to air the pilot in advance of its Fall 2011 premiere this May.

Simon Cowell is coming back to US airwaves in The X Factor coming this fall to FOX.

Go to YouTube to watch the rest of the Super Bowl XLV ads.