One would be forgiven if they didn't realize that the Superbowl was a football game. While there might be a bit of excitement in Green Bay due to the Packers' win, the immediate discussion in the aftermath surrounds little football related.
The real game of the Superbowl, or at least the one that dominates the majority of the post-game discussion, has been advertising. Companies essentially compete to see who can have the best ad, with the most relevant celebrities or the most amusing hook. The kid from VW's Star Wars-based ad for their new Passat has gotten more attention than any player on the Green Bay Packers. No play has gotten nearly the amount of post-game analysis as Chrysler's love letter to Detroit. Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd begin to question whether or not a football game even happened last Sunday.
I'm not one of those people who begrudges advertisers for trying to sell their products. Lots of work goes into these ads, and many people who got their start in the ad industry have gone on to make critically acclaimed films and television series'. What I find curious is that the Superbowl has become less about football than it is about the world championship of advertising, more focused on the commercial break than anything else.
Of course, this development came from a relatively natural place. The game was the one thing that the majority of America would watch. As a result, the commercial breaks became highly valuable resources for the broadcasters, and in demand. After all, any television event that commanded the country's attention had to bring with it some serious ad money. Advertisers, wanting to make the most of their investment, used it as a platform to launch their newest and most ambitious campaigns. It got steadily more attention until finally we have reached this point, where it's become a lengthy battle between the titans of advertising, interrupted on occasion by a football game.
The problem is simply that it has gotten out of hand. The amount of time dedicated to post-ad analysis, compilations of the best and worst ads, retrospectives on the most memorable ads in previous years, the advertising bowl has gotten so much play that it has overshadowed the entire reason it began in the first place. If it was just a case of having the debut of a few different campaigns and some better than average spots, it would be fine. Unfortunately, at this point, the game is being pushed so far into the periphery that it is becoming a sideshow between commercial breaks, and is swiftly forgotten about the next morning, when everyone is talking about who had the best sales pitch. It's nice to have a platform to launch the newest and most creative spots, but unfortunately it's becoming increasingly difficult to remember the reason for the platform.
Comedy program The Onion SportsDome recently did a joke where the NFL delayed the Superbowl in order to allow Doritos more time to finish their ad. I wonder how long it is going to take before that actually happens. Given the point where we are now, where actual football has become the least talked about part of the game, I suspect that bit of satire will soon become reality.
