Advertisers know what sells

In my personal blackout of anything related to the NFL due to the reinstatement of Michael Vick, I did not watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. I have spent many happy hours surrounded by food, beer and friends watching the game and cheering my pick on.
We all used to wait with anticipation on the commercials and they never let us down. I have not seen all the commercials which were new on Super Bowl Sunday but the ones I heard about all had animals, especially dogs in them.
I have often heard if you want to sell a product, use a dog or a kid. Seems the advertising gurus still follow that same mantra.