They have become as much a part of Super Bowl Sunday as the game itself. At $3 million apiece, the commercials airing during the game can be a gamble.

With the game underway, there were actually two competitions, the Steelers and Cardinals on the field and the various commercials during breaks in the action.

"A good commercial, it has to be memorable." Lance Koenig is one of the Bailey Lauerman employees evaluating the Super Bowl ads from the Old Mattress Factory in downtown Omaha.

If trends continue, funny commercials will dominate this Super Bowl's top 10. "I think that the funny spots are successful because people, especially in this setting, want to be entertained," said Koenig. "This is such a big festival atmosphere."

The ads are serious business and can pay off for companies that roll the dice and come up big.

"Emerald Nuts, for example, advertised in the Super Bowl in 2005 and before that it was a very unknown brand and after their Super Bowl advertising their sales increased 56 percent," said Bailey Lauerman's Wendy Fitch.

There is no one formula to a successful Super Bowl ad, but all good commercials, whether they're funny, serious, informative or silly, they all have on thing in common.

"If there's no strategy or not a clear view on what they want people to take away from the spot or the commercial, then it's not going to succeed," said Koenig.

At $3 million per spot, those selling a product or service better have a good idea what they want to get across to the American public and hope that we're buying.