Here's the making of that Sony Bravia ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1bEOtpqYpA
People in riot gear outfits and shields and stuff to protect themselves from thousands of bouncy balls. :)
Also the guy at just after 4:00 is hilarious....
apparently they didn't
http://www.adrants.com/2009/03/honda-insight-commercials-car...
There is even a making of on vimeo
http://vimeo.com/4295148
Nowadays, the whole point of that kind of things is to do it for real. Doing it through CGI is just easier and defeats the purpose. It actually reminds me of the Bravia ad from 4-5 years ago (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zOrV-5vh1A&fmt=22) where Sony had tens of thousands of colored balls bouncing in a San Francisco street.
The collaboration with Vimeo with the Flash overlay is also a nice touch.