At $83,333 a Second, Super Bowl Ads Chase the Score

New technologies are changing how marketers are approaching the game, which is typically the biggest day of the year for Madison Avenue. The roughly 40 glossy big-budget spots to run during the broadcast of the game Sunday - at a record average cost of $2.5 million for each 30 seconds - will also be available on Web sites like espn.com, nfl.com, video.google.com and video.yahoo.com; as video-on-demand programs on digital cable; for downloading to personal computers and video iPods and on certain cellphones.

In the past, fans of the commercials could see only pirated versions, posted haphazardly and clandestinely. Now advertisers, seeking to capitalize on that interest, want to make the spots widely and easily accessible.

Some advertisers, like Burger King and the Cadillac division of General Motors, also plan to offer films about the making of the commercials, and include deleted scenes, features usually associated with movies on DVD. Some spots will be shown in movie theaters after the game.  (Herald Tribune)