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Razor scooters (Khermouch, 2001). As marketers orchestrate what they hope will bea gathering chatter about their brand or ad, they hope consumers will then also spreadthe word for them in a virus-like manner.Media Coverage of Super Bowl AdvertisingSo just how do Super Bowl advertisers build synergy, buzz, and added value whenthey plunk down their multi-million dollar investment for a 30 second spot. Kelleyand Turley (2004) suggest Super Bowl ads themselves have become “must-watch TV”with intense media interest both before and after the game. Indeed, newspaper, television,and magazines have come to see the Super Bowl of advertising as a great story inand of itself, thereby providing additional free reach (McAllister, 1999). For example,in the month leading up to Super Bowl XXXIII, traditional media in the countrymentioned Super Bowl advertising more than 1,600 times (Yeklur, et al., 2004).Part of the reason the Super Bowl advertising story appeals to the media is becausethe story also appeals to the public. One poll suggests that more than two-thirds ofthe Super Bowl audience pays attention to the ads and more than half talk about theads the next day (Freeman, 1999). This type of acceptance of advertising is, indeed,rare. According to Mike Hess, director of global research and consumer insights forOmnicom Group’s OMD, it is this quality of the exposure, as opposed to the sheeramount of reach, that is key in a Super Bowl media buy. “… The Super Bowl is virtuallythe only forum left where consumers watch ads for fun and talk about them ratherthan trying to avoid them” (Neff & Halliday, 2005, p. 4).Public reaction to Super Bowl advertising has also become something of a mediasport. For example, USA Today has published a ranking of Super Bowl advertising since1989. The AdMeter ratings are generated through a volunteer sample that is representativeof the Super Bowl audience (Kelley and Turley, 2004). Participants register theirreal-time feelings about ads while watching the Super Bowl and the scores are printedin the paper on the Monday morning after the game. The AdMeter ratings from USAToday have become an industry-accepted standard for judging Super Bowl advertisingwinners and losers after the game (Kelley and Turley, 2004). USA Today uses the dataas the basis for articles about the most popular Super Bowl commercials. The newspaperputs all of the ads online and invites readers in both the print version and online tovote for both their favorite and least favorite ads. USA Today also has a link to its Hallof Fame, all of its Ad Meter winners since 1989. The list includes six commercials fromPepsi and five from Anheuser-Busch, the two most prolific Super Bowl advertisers. Thepublication even conducts an online forum and Q&A the day after the game to furthergauge public reaction. The USA Today ratings have become so prominent that at leastone online sportsbook accepted bets on the 2006 ratings (TV Newsday, 2006).As the discussion grows, the Super Bowl advertising dialogue becomes something ofa living, self-sustaining entity that gathers a life of its own. The result is considerablepublic interest before the ads air, a nationwide discussion forum of the ads after thegame, and ultimately a circle of communication that continues forward to the followingyear’s Super Bowl advertising. Peter Blackshaw, the chief marketing officer of researchfirm Nielsen BuzzMetrics, suggests Super Bowl ads carry the potential for creating anextended conversation and a “word of mouth multiplier” that adds to the campaignimpact (Spain, 2006). Blackshaw’s research firm monitors consumer discussion of30Feedback January 2009 (Vol. 50, No. 1)