The top 10 Super Bowl commercials of 2015

It's not by chance that the Super Bowl always manages to attract more viewers than any other game during the regular NFL regular season (or any other major U.S. sporting event period, most years.)

Whether it's for the promise of a can't miss half-time show, a game-day party with friends, or the chance to go nuts on a Super Bowl snack spread, scores of people who wouldn't regularly be interested in watching football tend to swell the big game's audience each year — even if their eyes are glued to their phone for most of the event.

Yet, as Google data shows, not even imported $140 pizzas can hold a candle to what gets the majority of non-sportos paying attention to the world of football for one day each calendar year: Super Bowl commercials.

Canadians are a particularly ad-savvy bunch when it comes to the Super Bowl, according to Google Canada. In fact, we've been outpacing our U.S. counterparts in searches for "Super Bowl Commercials" on YouTube for the past five years — likely because Canadians can't view U.S. commercials as they air (yet.)

Fortunately for those outside of the U.S., more and more brands are choosing to release their Super Bowl ads online before, during, or after the big game each year in an attempt to get the most brand-boosting bang for their buck.

Many of 2015's most high-profile spots were indeed released days or even weeks before Super Bowl Sunday, and while there were certainly some shockers that premiered during the game itself, the majority of this year's most critically-acclaimed ads had already hit YouTube well before kickoff.

Social reaction during the game (which was won by the New England Patriots, by the way) indicates that the ads of Super Bowl XLIX sent viewers on more of an emotional roller-coaster than usual, prompting tears, laughter and thousands of confused tweets at every commercial break.

Celebrities played a major role in winning audiences over once again this year, but a number of ads managed to stand out even more than Bryan Cranston and Kim Kardashian, simply by packing more substance than we're typically used to seeing in a 30-second Super Bowl spot.

Based on critical reviews, online reactions, comments from Canadians and YouTube metrics, here are our picks for the top 10 best Super Bowl Commercials of 2015:

Dove Men+Care's "#RealStrength"

Nationwide "Invisible Mindy Kaling"

It was a hit and a miss for Nationwide Insurance at the 2015 Super Bowl. The first of the company's two very different ads to run during Sunday's game — a light-hearted spot featuring actors Mindy Kaling and Matt Damon — was hailed as "cute," "funny," and "charming." A second commercial, aired later in the game, revolved around a dead child mourning the life he'll never get to live. While the ad is clearly meant to educate audiences about preventing accidental childhood deaths, many of those who viewed it on Sunday were seriously bummed out by the story it told. "Make Safe Happen" is currently being floated around the web as a contender for "the worst Super Bowl ad in history." "Invisible Mindy Kaling," on the other hand, is a solid hit.