Contrary to the trite assertion made every year by people who don’t know how to appreciate football, it is not really true that mercials are the best thing about the Super Bowl (at least not always).

Sure, it may seem that way because the television viewer is mercials than actual game play (in an average game, theratio mercials to playing time is seven to one). The reality, though, is that most of mercials aren’t all that memorable. Only a few stand out every year and they are almost always mercials.

But maybe (like me) you don’t like beer, or (also like me) you’re a Southern Baptist and aren’t supposed to condone mercials, or maybe (again, me) your just tired of the anthropomorphizing of Clydesdale horses. mercials are also uninspired, they don’t generally tell us much about ourselves as a people (other than that Americans like to drink beer). That’s why I prefer mercials that focus on vocation and stewardship.

Ads that focus on how we use (or misuse) our resources and vocational abilities have been some of the best Super mercials of all time. Here are seven of my favorite examples. What do you think mercials tell us about the American view of stewardship and vocation?

7. ,“Monkey Business”

6. Coke, “Mean Joe Green”

5. , “When I Grow Up”

4. Apple, 1984

3. E*Trade, “Wasted Two Million Bucks”

2. Reebok “Terry Tate — Office Linebacker”

1. EDS, “Cat Herders”