The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League. But it’s not just any game because of the whole tradition that has developed around it for years. The Super Bowl together with the festivities during which many popular singers perform, has created the Super Bowl Sunday, which has developed into some kind of national holiday.

Thus, regarding so many fans of the game and the festivity, a whole business revolves around it. It’s the business of broadcasting and creating the advertisements for it. This year, NBC network will air the Super Bowl, while the advertisers seek for the best ideas.

But considering the state of the national economy at the time being, the decision to give $3 million on advertisements, which means to pay $100,000 a second and to air 30 seconds, is somehow unjustifiable. Another problem to consider is that of the dismissal of 700,000 employees who now receive unemployment benefits. Would they receive their jobs back if the Super Bowl spots weren’t aired?

Steve Hayden, vice chairman at Ogilvy Worldwide, who co-wrote the Apple ad 25 years ago at the Super Bowl, stated that this “is the first Super Bowl of the Great Depression 2.0." There have been 33.5 minutes for the ads to be broadcast during the Super Bowl and at least 30 brands who had bought that time.

Brands like Budweiser, Pepsi and Coke and first-timers such as Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Pedigree pet food and Denny's will run their ads during the NBC game broadcast having the common goal to get $100,000 for a second of ad buzz. The ad buzz represents the Web hint after the game and translates into sales.

Yet, it is difficult for the advertisers to find something to match the reality, the game and the present state of the economy. Some thought about heritage and others thought about delivering a good joke. The dangerous thing this year is that the consumers might lower their confidence in the ads. This would lead to the record-low consumer recall of the Super Bowl ads, according to Scott Purvis, the president of Gallup & Robinson.