es, the Broncos stomped the Patriots thanks to an all-star performance by Peyton Manning, and an unusually sub-par one by Tom Brady. And the Forty-Niners imploded at the end of the game against the tough-hitting Seahawks. The commentators will spend all week breaking down the highlights and fumbles, moments of glory and shows of weakness, and will start looking ahead to Super Bowl XLVIII. While I consider myself a huge sports fan, my professional passions inspire a different set of reflections:The Brands Who Won The Playoffs.

 I realize that most discussions around football-related advertising focuses on the Super Bowl, but I thought it would be interesting to see who stood out during the playoffs. This list doesn’t necessarily reflect spots that made their debut during the AFC and NFC Championships, but does honor the creative minds who, in my humble opinion, should stop and take a bow for their work.Not surprisingly,Interbrand’s #1 brand of 2013 shows up strong with it’s iPad Air Your Verse ad. The spot is a call to “contribute a verse” to the amazing art, adventure, engineering, sport and other examples of iPad Air usage. The customer “stories” are artfully pieced together and poetically narrated, complete with a quote from Walt Whitman’s O Me! O Life!. I, for one, found myself asking, “What will my verse be?”Football game breaks are usually full of car commercials appealing to viewers who care about horsepower, safety features or simply put, bragging rights. Honda took a different approach with their Today is Pretty Greats spot, which grabs your attention from the start with a twang from an unlikely musical duo, and continues with a variety of people giving one liners about the things that make “today pretty great.” It was a bold move to show less of the vehicle itself and more of the types of personalities reflected by potential Honda owners. Bold and brilliant.

All State’s “Mayhem” campaign reveals all sorts of disasters that might befall your house, car or anything else that All State can insure. “Mayhem” itself is brilliantly personified by actor Dean Winters , who 30 Rock fans will quickly identify as Liz Lemon’s pathetic ex-boyfriend. The insurance giant appropriately nods to football with its Lawn Game spot, and though it isn’t my favorite in the campaign, its unique approach to identifying various, off-the-wall reasons why you might need insurance, sets All State apart from its competitors. That, and its voice-of-God-style VO courtesy of Dennis Haysbert.4. Coors Light

Football and beer to go together…well…like football games and beer commercials. Coors Light has consistently been a heavy advertiser during NFL games and the Playoffs were no exception. Their series of ads depicting mountain-climbing tough guys recovering bottles of the brew from deep within icy mountainsides has been running for quite some time, but their Break The Ice spot seemed especially tantalizing. Maybe it was the sweeping shots of a wintery Alaskan landscape or the fishing of a bucket of beer from beneath a frozen lake. All I know is that it made me kinda…sorta…maybe think that drinking one of those bottles of Coors Light might be delicious in spite of my previous experiences. And that’s saying a lot.

5. Bank of America

Bank of America touts the features of its Power Rewards credit card with the story of five ex-bandmates who earn enough in cash back rewards to pick up their instruments and start touring again. In comparison with other similar ads which simply show “things” you can buy with the money you earn, Five Fine Fillies tugs at your heart strings by depicting how Bank of America helps people realize their dreams. It doesn’t hurt that the Fillies look like sweet grandmas with cute nicknames like “Little Lily,” and are all portrayed by actual musicians . After all, who doesn’t want to hear their grandma say, “It’s time to rock.”What were your favorite spots? Who were the winners in your book?

Image credit: RantSports.com