Betty White is Super Bowl XLIV's Breakout Star

Betty White, Abe Vigoda, and other octogenarians were the Super Bowl commercials' unexpected hits.

Sure, the Saints had a huge victory last night, but I think octogenarians had (arguably) the best night out of anyone. The Who rocked the halftime show, and when it comes to commercials, forget about Tim Tebow. All anyone wants to talk about today is Betty White.

The former Golden Girl stole the show during Snicker's opening commercial when she played a young guy transformed into a old woman incapable of doing anything but get tackled during a football game because of his overpowering hunger. The candy bar giant had a lot to overcome with the ads, which could have easily veered into horrifying territory, what with an elderly woman getting tackled by virile young men and all that, due to their campaign from three years ago that got them into trouble with gay activists.

"Obviously, we were very, very concerned about portraying a brand like Snickers in the most positive light," said Carole Walker, who runs integrated marketing communication for Mars, which owns Snickers. "It's three years later, we've done our homework. We've done our research. We were absolutely not nervous about the campaign in any way." Their research paid off; White's campaign is at the top of most major media outlet's "Best Ads" lists today.

But White wasn't the only octogenarian having the Best Night Ever. The New York Times points out that most Super Bowl commercials were "heavy on nostalgia," and that "nostalgia" often meant "famous faces we trust from the past," like White and Abe Vigoda for Snickers, Don Rickles for Teleflora, and Stevie Wonder for Volkswagon.

What does this reliance on nostalgia and faces we know and trust mean? In this time of uncertainty, ad agencies recognize that Americans don't want to see cutting edge — instead, they want to see comforting images they can laugh at, and faces they can easily identify. Even the sock monkey, The Simpsons, and the Super Bowl Shuffle all made appearances during last night's game. Forget the new-age E-Trade babies; Betty White and co. just make us feel warm and cozy inside.

Screengrab courtesy of Hulu.