How did ‘USA Today’ get the ads so wrong?

This just in: People in Bakersfield, Calif., and McLean, Va., wouldn’t know a good ad if it hit them in the crotch like a can of PepsiMAX. Those two cities provided the 282 volunteers for last night’s USA Today Ad Meter, the paper’s annual survey that tracks second-by-second viewer reaction to the Super Bowl ads. This year’s best spots, according to the Ad Meter? It’s a tie between Bud Light’s “Dogsitter” and Doritos’s “Pug Attack” (see them both below). Yes, Bud Light’s “Dogsitter” and Doritos’s “Pug Attack”—two spots that by any objective measure don’t belong at the top of anyone’s list of anything. Volkswagen’s Darth Vader spot finished third, which would seem to indicate that the Ad Meter isn’t completely broken. But glaringly, Chrysler’s Eminem spot, which has earned strong reviews from just about everyone, finished 44th out of the 61 spots ranked. What is the main takeaway here? That the Ad Meter sucks? That people suck? Or that dogs don’t suck?