Wacky Super Bowl Ads Are Already Getting Serious Play

The television audience for the Super Bowl is projected to top 100 million. But if you’ve been surfing the Web this week, you’ve probably already seen some of Sunday’s big plays — the ads.

The spots, which CBS News says are costabout $3.8 million for 30 seconds of air time, have spread over social media like virtual fire.

Tim Nudd, a senior editor at Adweek, offered an explanation to NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition:

“The Super Bowl ads almost need spoiler alerts these days. So many brands are doing this now and it’s really because of social media. So many people are talking about the Super Bowl earlier and earlier and these brands are … terrified and they’re going to be left out of that conversation, so they do away with the element of surprise and just jump right in.”

The impact of the ads can’t be fully measured but hints of their success can be seen by analyzing social media or sales figures, Fudd says. (USA Today’s Ad Meter tracks how well commercials do with viewers.)

In the end, the target is to amuse the audience, Adweek’s Fudd tells Inskeep.

“In this game it’s not about subtleties, and it’s really not about communicating a serious message — it’s really just about entertaining people.”