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Few American cultural events draw a bigger television audience than the Super Bowl. And few things cost more per second than Super Bowl commercials. This year, a 30-second advertising spot (e.g. Focus on the Family’s controversial anti-abortion ad, starring Tim Tebow) will cost between $2.5 million and $3 million. That's up to $100,000 a second. The odds are 1 in 18.05 that a person 15 or older makes $100,000 in a year.

For your consideration: a selection of the Super Bowl's best (and worst), biggest, most beloved, and most hated advertisements—listed by year.

1974. " On Dec 5th, 1973, at a rifle range outside Los Angeles..." In what is consistently voted one of the best Super Bowl commercials of all time, a Master Lock takes a direct hit from a .30-caliber bullet. Afterwards, it still holds. The slow-motion close-up of the lock "sustaining considerable damage" worked wonders for Master Lock®, who even today leads the world in lock imports. Mythbusters recently re-tested some Master Locks. The results? The locks survive being shot by a .357 Magnum bullet, but are utterly destroyed by a 12-gauge shotgun slug and an M-1 Garand round.

1979. " Have a Coke and a Smile,” starring Mean Joe Greene. During Super Bowl XIII, Coca-Cola® aired one of the most famous minutes in television history: a game-weary Mean Joe Greene, of the Pittsburgh Steelers, accepts a Coke from a young fan. In return—"Hey, kid...catch"—he throws the boy his towel. A difficult commercial moment to top. Except, perhaps, in...

1984. " You'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984,” directed by Ridley Scott. In 1984—with the country very much aware of the year's Orwellian connotations—upstart Apple Computer® introduced the Macintosh personal computer to the world. Its first commercial, which aired during Super Bowl XVIII, would go on to be named the "Number One Greatest Commercial of All Time" by TV Guide. The ad in brief: a Big Brother-like figure on a movie screen speaks to a crowd of gray, genderless, presumably personality-free people. A sprinting woman, dressed in red and white, flings a sledgehammer into the screen. It is destroyed. The Macintosh is born.

1986. " Where's Herb?" One of the most spectacularly unsuccessful ad campaigns ever. The premise: Herb is the only man in America who has not eaten a Burger King® Whopper™. Campaign gimmicks included a $5,000 prize for spotting the bald, bespectacled nerd shown in an ad run during Super Bowl XX, as well as 99 cents off at Burger King for saying “I’m not Herb” or, if you were named Herb, "I'm not the Herb you're looking for."

1993. " The Showdown.” Michael Jordan and Larry Bird shoot increasingly difficult basketball shots (always ending with "...nothing but net") to see who will get to eat Jordan's Big Mac.

2003. " Terry Tate: Office Linebacker.” At Super Bowl XXXVII, Reebok® introduced Terry Tate to the world. A fictional "office" linebacker, played by football player/wrestler Larry Speight, Tate ensures office productivity by delivering horrendous tackles to office workers.

2009. " Free Doritos.” Before Super Bowl XLIII, Doritos® held a nationwide fan-made-commercial contest. The prize, $1,000,000, was awarded to Joseph and Dave Herbert from Batesville, Indiana, for this ad, featuring two unusual uses for a snow globe.

And Beyond… For Super Bowl XLIV, the Doritos® competition has expanded: the creators of three winning viewer-made ads will be awarded a total of $5 million. And Doritos® has resorted to more than one atypical marketing campaign: in 2008, they paid the University of Leicester (UK) and EISCAT Space Center (Norway) an undisclosed sum to beam a 30-second ad spot in the direction of a solar system in Ursa Major (the Great Bear constellation, which includes the Big Dipper). The ad will take another 40 years to get there—by the football calendar, that’s Super Bowl LXXXIV.