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USA TODAY Ad Meter Ends in First-Ever Tie

Go to admeter.usatoday.com to see full USA TODAY Super Bowl Ad Meter results, watch all the Super Bowl ads, rate the ads yourself and see what others think. Complete results are also available in today's editions of USA TODAY.

The top five ads and final ratings are:

    --  Bud Light - Dog sitter puts dogs to work - 8.35
    --  Frito-Lay Doritos - Dog's revenge for Doritos teasing - 8.35
    --  Volkswagen - "Darth Vader" starts 2012 Passat - 7.95
    --  Frito-Lay Doritos - House sitter brings back grandpa from the ashes -
        7.68
    --  Pepsi Max - Love hurts with bad girlfriend - 7.56

USA TODAY created the Super Bowl Ad Meter in 1989 to gauge consumers' opinions about TV's most expensive commercials. This year Ad Meter was held in McLean, Va. and Bakersfield, Calif. 282 volunteers charted their second-by-second reactions to national Super Bowl commercials using hand-held meters to register how much they liked or disliked an ad. A computer averaged the scores continuously.

    Previous Ad Meter winners:
     2010 - Mars Snickers - Betty White and Abe Vigoda in casual football
      game - 8.68
     2009 - Frito-Lay Doritos - Crystal ball sees free Doritos - 8.46
     2008 - Anheuser-Busch - Dalmatian trains Clydesdale to make beer
      wagon team - 8.73
     2007 - Anheuser-Busch - Crabs worship a cooler of Budweiser on the
      beach - 8.56
     2006 - Anheuser-Busch:  Secret refrigerator stocked with Bud Light -
      8.39
     2005 - Anheuser-Busch:  Pilot jumps out of airplane for Bud Light -
      8.65
     2004 - Anheuser-Busch: Owners demonstrate how their dogs fetch Bud
      Light - 9.04
     2003 - Anheuser-Busch: Replay - 8.99
     2002 - Anheuser-Busch: Satin Sheets - 9.11
     2001 - Anheuser-Busch: Cedric's dream date - 8.63
     2000 - Anheuser-Busch: Rex the Dog recalls his worst day - 8.09
     1999 - Anheuser-Busch:  Separated at Birth - 8.01
     1998 - Pepsi: Flying Geese - 9.08
     1997 - Pepsi: Dancing bears - 8.22
     1996 - Pepsi: On security camera, Coke driver nabs Pepsi - 9.42
     1995 - Pepsi: Boy gets sucked into bottle - 9.66
     1994 - Pepsi: Chimp escapes lab, hits the beach - 9.34
     1993 - McDonald's: Jordan and Bird shoot hoops - 9.00
     1992 - Nike: Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan team - 8.51
     1991 - Diet Pepsi: Ray Charles' new jingle catches on - 8.52
     1990 - Nike: Famous announcers call imaginary game - 8.17
     1989 -American Express: Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz travel to the
      Super Bowl -7.52.

USA TODAY is a multi-platform news and information media company. Founded in 1982, USA TODAY's mission is to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Today, through its newspaper, website and mobile platforms, USA TODAY connects readers and engages the national conversation. USA TODAY, the nation's number one newspaper in print circulation with an average of more than 1.8 million daily, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper website launched in 1995, reach a combined 5.9 million readers daily. USA TODAY is a leader in mobile applications with more than seven million downloads on mobile devices. The USA TODAY brand also includes USA TODAY Education and USA TODAY Sports Weekly. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

SOURCE USA TODAY