296) After These Messages

(The crowd favorite so far.)

Ah, Superbowl Sunday. The day when multi-million dollar television ads are embraced as part of the culture. In yesteryears, brands kept their highly anticipated Superbowl ads under wraps until the big day. But more recently, we're seeing Superbowl spots being teased and leaked online in the week prior. Adfreak explains, "Nowadays many want pre-game Internet buzz to stretch their big investment." Indeed, the site was able to collect 21 teasers and full ads three days ago.

Sure, some still use commercial breaks to refill on chips and guac. But the anticipation that is built up around some of these spots - especially brands with continuing storylines, a la Bud Light's office that brought us "Swear Jar" - are taking on a life of its own and becoming a draw beyond the game itself. Likewise, pre-maturely banned Superbowl ads, like the always classy AshleyMadison.com spot, made their own headlines. (Side note: does anyone remember if/when the Britney Spears Pepsi spot was banned? YouTube said it was, but watching it, I can't imagine why. Were we really in a tizzy over her midriff back then?)

The question is, if you've seen a Superbowl ad online once, is there reason for you to want to see it again on TV during the game? On one hand, some of the ah-ha and reveal is lost. On the other hand, it could reinforce a positive, oh-yeah-that-ad-I-liked sentiment. The next step, it seems, is to give viewers a reason to tune into the ads specifically - maybe the TV version is slightly different than the pre-released online one. Do I even dare to imagine the day that viewership actually increases during commercial breaks? Now that would be a feat.