Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Forget the battle between the Giants and the Pats. The real Super Bowl showdown is between advertisers.

The Super Bowl is advertising’s biggest stage and companies spent an average of $3.5 million for 30-second commercials for the right to duke it out during Sunday’s game. This year’s ads use celebrities, nostalgia and sex appeal to draw in the 111 million-plus viewers who are expected to tune in.

“Viewers challenge the corporate community — can you really entertain me on Sunday?” says Bob Horowitz, executive producer of the annual CBS “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials” show. “The bar is high but I believe the creative is stepping it up a notch this year.”

In the first quarter, automakers dominated. Audi’s ad features its bright LED headlights disrupting a vampire party. Meanwhile, Chevy’s Silverado ad baits rival Ford in a doomsday scenario. Chevy Silverado drivers survive the end of the world, it seems, but a Ford driver didn’t make it. And Hyundai’s ad goes for laughs, showing a cheetah that’s meant to race a Hyundai turns on a bystander instead.

Other first-quarter highlights include a Best Buy ad that shows the inventors of things like the camera phone. M&M’s ad features a “nude” M&M who took off his colored shell at a party. And Pepsi has several stars in its ad, including Elton John starring as a king.

-AP