A blackout, an army of Beyoncés and an intentional safety: Super Bowl XLVII may have been the first Super Bowl in a long time that was more interesting than the multi-million-dollar commercials surrounding it. In fact, this year’s ads weren’t a very standout collection, consisting of mostly rehashed and underwhelming entries. What’s the point of spending millions on a 30-second spot if people aren’t going to be buzzing about it the next day?

At Super Bowl XLVI, car companies clearly ran over beer companies. Anheuser-Busch—normally the King of Commercials—fumbled in 2012. The Budweiser brewer tossed off a couple of forgettably nostalgic spots before bottoming out with the introduction of Bud Light Platinum, which ... has a higher credit limit than other beers? I have no idea. Car companies, however, pulled out the stops with a string of notable ads. Hot babes made a good showing, as always, hawking cars, more cars and domain name registration. Dogs also had their day, starring in five spots (six if you count Snoopy in the MetLife commercial). Monkeys, bears and babies, on the other hand, seem to have worn out their welcome. Good riddance to them.