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Cheerios' Super Bowl Ad Ranks Among Viewers' Top 10

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO/AP) -- General Mills' Super Bowl commercial was ranked among audiences ten favorite ads from Sunday evening.

The ad for Cheerios brought back the fictional interracial family who first appeared in a commercial last year. The advertisement made headlines when it sparked a series of ugly comments online, which in turn led to an outpouring of support for the family, which features a white mother, a black father and their young daughter.

General Mills, which owns Cheerios, said at the time that it cast the actors to reflect the changing U.S. population. Despite the controversy, the Minneapolis-based company continued running the ad for several months as planned.

In the new spot set to debut during the Super Bowl, the father uses individual Cheerios to illustrate each member of the family, explaining to his young daughter that, "Pretty soon, you're going to have a baby brother."

The girl looks dismayed at first, but then smiles and adds another Cheerio to the little pile.

"And, a puppy," she negotiates. Her father says it's a deal. The ad closes with a shot of the mom, watching from the side, looking alarmed at that development.

On Monday morning, the results of USA Today's Super Bowl Ad Meter were released. The Cheerios ad was ranked the seventh most beloved. The winning ad came from Anheuser-Busch and showed the bond shared between the Budweiser Clydesdales and a Golden Labrador puppy.

Interestingly enough, Bud Light also claimed the lowest spot with their "Cool Twist" ad, which featured Afrojack's newest single.

A 30-second spot during the Super Bowl costs around $4 million this year.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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