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In between football, the ad game was played to win

In a Best Buy ad, Amy Poehler, of NBC’s ‘‘Parks and Recreation,’’ asks a store employee endless questions.Best Buy/Associated Press

NEW YORK — Sex sells. Babies sell even more. And advertisers are hoping animals will make you laugh all the way to their stores.

While the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens battled during Super Bowl XLVII, marketers from Best Buy to M&M to Toyota were competing against each other on advertising’s biggest stage — and doing so by pulling out the most persuasive tools of their trade.

The stakes were high, with 30-second spots going for as much as $4 million this year. And more than 111 million viewers were expected to tune in. Some highlights:

Babies, animals, and families

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■  Hyundai’s ‘‘Epic Playdate’’ spot right before kickoff showed a family partying with the band The Flaming Lips: wreaking havoc at a natural history museum, getting chased by bikers, going to a petting zoo, and playing in a park.

‘‘Make every day epic with the new seven-passenger Santa Fe,’’ a voice-over stated.

When the family gets back home and the daughter asks, ‘‘What are we going to do now?’’ the father replies, ‘‘Well, I think there’s a game on,’’ and the broadcast went straight to the kickoff.

■  Toyota’s ad starred Kaley Cuoco from CBS’s ‘‘The Big Bang Theory’’ granting wishes to a family, from a boy wanting to go into space to a dad wanting to lose his ‘‘spare tire.’’

Humor is key

■  Best Buy’s 30-second ad in the first quarter starred Amy Poehler, of NBC’s ‘‘Parks and Recreation,’’ asking a Best Buy employee endless questions about electronics.

‘‘Will this one read ‘50 Shades of Grey’ to me in a sexy voice?’’ Poehler asks about an e-book reader. When the staffer says no, she asks, ‘‘Will you?’’

■  M&M’s showed its red spokes-character singing Meatloaf’s ‘‘I Would Do Anything For Love,’’ and wooing beautiful women, but stopping short when they try to eat him.

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■  Oreo’s ad featured a showdown in a library between people fighting over whether the cookie or the cream is the best part of the cookie. The joke: The fight escalates into thrown chairs and other mayhem, but because the fight is in a library, everyone still has to whisper.

■  Doritos went for humor with its two user-created spots. Winners of the ‘‘Crash the Super Bowl’’ contest included one about a Doritos-crazy goat. Another showed a dad playing princess with his daughter to get Doritos. His buddies catch him, but instead of making fun of him they join in the fun.

‘‘Is that my wedding dress?’’ says his wife when she sees them playing.

■  Budweiser showed rival 49ers and Ravens fans each creating a voodoo doll for the other team with the help of a mysterious figure in a bar. ‘‘It’s only weird if it doesn’t work,’’ reads the copy.

■  Taco Bell showed a group of seniors partying, getting tattoos, and eating its Doritos Locos Tacos.

Celebs abound

■  The Milk Processor Education Program, known as MilkPep and popular for its ‘‘Got Milk?’’ print ads, featured actor and professional wrestler Dwayne ‘‘The Rock’’ Johnson in a 30-second ad in which he battles all kinds of oddities on his way to get milk.

■  Tracy Morgan of ‘‘30 Rock,’’ appeared in an ad for Kraft’s Mio Fit water-enhancing drops.

Sex still sells

■  Calvin Klein raised the sex appeal with a 30-second spot showing male model Matthew Terry strutting around in underwear.

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■  Godaddy.com’s spot toed the line of good taste, showing a close-up extended kiss between supermodel Bar Refaeli and a nerdy nobody to illustrate Godaddy’s combo of ‘‘sexy’’ and ‘‘smart.’’