Advertising spending for the 1998 Superbowl may be up 50 percent over previous years, but the quality of this year's commercials has obviously dropped. Advertisers paid more than $43,000 per second to market their products during the year's most-watched event. Nevertheless, this year's array of ads seemed to lack the creativity and charisma of the past.

THE BEST:

1. The Bud Frogs are alive!

Just when you thought you had heard the last of the Bud-weis-er frogs, a fantastic plot twist: the amphibians escape death by clinging to logs and overhead wires. Obviously Louie never learned that to fry a frog, you need to slowly turn up the heat.

2. Bud Frog Murder

Louie the Lizard exacts his revenge upon the Budwiser frogs in this spot for Bud. Conspiring with a ferret, Louie watches gleefully as a neon Budweiser sign falls into the frog pond, electrocuting the famous amphibians. After weeks of hype concerning a plot against the frogs, the ad delivers. The lizard ends the commercial with the quip, "Eventually every frog has to croak."

3. NBC's "Working"

NBC scores with the parodies of the Nike "I can" campaign. Mimicking the shoe spots, characters from Fred Savage's new series spout witticisms like, "I can file ... my nails," "I can sleep with my eyes open" and "I can photocopy ... my face." Excellent intelligent humor.

4. Pepsi Goose

A skysurfer and a Canadian goose go head to head in this ad for Pepsi. After the goose imitates the twirling, flipping, diving styles of the extreme sportsman, the surfer shares his Pepsi with the bird in mid-air.

5. Budweiser Men in the Petites Section

In this humorous ad for Bud Light, a husband ecapes the boredom of clothes shopping with his wife when he is rescued by a group of football fans watching the game from within a clothes rack.

6. Little Steeler

This spirited commercial for the NFL, which has aired previously, features an adorable seven year-old Pittsburgh fan whose job it is to sprint onto the playing field and retreive the kick-off tee. After impressing the audience with his sprint time, he confides, "My friends think I'm lucky, I just think I'm fast."

7. Primestar Mustang

This witty ad begins with a man polishing his classic red Ford mustang in his driveway and jumps to the image of a cement pipe falling off a flatbed truck. As the pipe rolls towards the mustang, the man jumps into his car, presumedly to move it out of the path of destruction. But when the pipe smashes into the car, the audience learns that the man has used his mustang to block his Primestar satellite dish.

8. Pepsi Alien

Following the latest trend in advertising, Pepsi incorporates aliens into their spot starring Damon and Keenan Wayans. As Damon stops for a Pepsi at an abandoned gas station on Highway 66, his brother morphs into purple goo and bonds with the Pepsi vending machine. The reasoning behind the mutation it is never quite clear: does Keenan want refreshment or just the pocket change?

9. Mail Boxes Etc. for Small Businesses

Mail Boxes Etc. showed great innovation (not to mention generosity) in awarding its million-dollar ad time to a small business producing hand-held air pumps. After featuring the up-start company, the commercial's tag line touted Mail Boxes Etc., "We can make your small business work like a big business." Two thumbs up for humility.

10. Brisk Yankees

Claymation versions of Babe Ruth and George Steinbrenner star in this ad for Brisk Ice Tea. Despite a brief suggestion of Ruth's alcholism, the commercial is a delightful parody of the Yankee personalities. Steinbrenner rants and raves in the dugout until the Great Bambino hits a homer.

THE WORST:

1. All local commercials

Think of placing a mo-ped next to a brand new Rolls Royce. Now you get the idea of the impression local ads left on Superbowl viewers. While Upper Valley cabinet makers and outlet stores undoubtedly reached a wide audience, they may have done themselves more harm than good.

With inane jingles and poor taping quality, the ads paled compared to the multi-million dollar campaigns. Where Pizza Hut digitally mastered Elvis into their restaurants, Twin State lawyer Charlie Buttrey donned giant green plastic sunglasses and assured, "being injured is no laughing matter." There should be a law against this.

2. Federal Express

The commercial begins with a technical difficulty screen complete with colored bars. Though the note is less shrill than the usual Emergency Broadcast System tone, the commercial is no less annoying. As type scrolls across the screen: "We apologize. You should be watching the new ad for Earth Co. Insurance. It starred those lifeguards from Baywatch and a chorus line of singing kangaroos," the viewer realizes the gag.

The ad continues, explaining that a member of the ad team failed to use Federal Express to mail the commercial and thus wasting $1.3 million. The commercial ends scrolling, "Had they used Fed Ex, they would still be our ad agency." Fed Ex might consider axing their own agency as well.

3. Oracle Revolution

Oracle, an internet software company, uses images of car explosions, riot police and child guerillas to begin its Superbowl commercial. Not exactly an ad for a football game.

4. Coca-Cola Red

Despite its hype, the new campaign disappoints. Strange red-headed people recount the names they incurred as children. One boy smiles, "Howdy Doody" and a frizz-headed geek says, "Carrot Top." For some reason Coke tries to link this to their red can with the tag line: Born Red. Marketing to people of a certain hair color: the new strategy in the cola wars?

5. Pepsi Squashed Bug

The only fumble of its Superbowl advertising blitz, a claymation insect drinks Pepsi and begins to sing only to be flattened by a Pepsi can. The Pepsi commercial suffered in its choice of music; neither the song nor the singing were very compelling. It was reminiscent of the California Raisins ad, just not as good.

6. Intel Mystery

Intel, the creator of Pentium Processors, tried to capture audience attention with a Whodunnit? commercial involving the theft of a Pentium chip. As a space-suited dectective investigates the production line, he considers the computer addictions of two workers. Here the black and white footage hinders the story, rendering all the characters identical.

The detective seeks help from the audience, requesting them to e-mail their suspicions. Yet, the idea of interactive blame is weak at best, and without the vivid grooving workers, the Intel commercial flops.

7. Holiday Inn Jury

The ad begins with a jury in deliberation watching the video of a robbery and listening to the criminal's confession. But when the court baliff enters the room, the foreman hesitates to confirm a verdict so the jury can spend one more night in a renovated Holiday Inn. With the seriousness of recent deliberations like the Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols trials, trivializing the role of the jury courts bad taste. Holding off a conviction for the hotel room? That must have been the OJ Simpson jury's motivation too.

8. Iomega Zip Drive

A frantic family on a weekday morning is nothing new. The dog eating the little girl's retainer lacked humor altogether.

9. Nike's Performance Apparel

This display of wet, naked, muscular bodies might have flown if not for the ridiculous tag line: the evolution of skin.

10. Doritos Laudromat

Though a certain favorite with some Superbowl fans, this Doritos ad broke the testosterone meter. An introduction to the new 3-D chip snack, the commercial featured two men in a laundromat attempting to impress a tight-shirted woman with their mouth catching abilities.

When the woman steps up, pours snacks into the dryer and catches them with her mouth after a gymnastic routine that would rival any Olympian, men across America drooled. But not over the Doritos.