NEVERMINDTHECOWBOYSORthe49ers--MasterLockisn\'tinthegamethisyear.Office Depot Promo Codes McDonald\'sisn\'t, either, asun-Americanasthatmaysound, butMasterLock, thelow-profilemakerofpadlocks, isdifferent. Thecompanyhasdevotedmuchofitsadvertisingbudgetin21ofthepast23yearstobuyingasingleadintheSuperBowl. YetaweekfromSunday, nolockswillrepelspeedingbullets. MasterLocksaysitischangingstrategy, andthat\"thetrendinSuperBowladvertisinghasbeentoentertaining, evenhumorouscommercials, whichisnotanappropriateenvironmentforasecurityproduct. \"Conjuringfearsomevisionsofcrimeandmayhemapparentlywasn\'tminglingwellwithfunnyfrogsandsupermodelsmunchingsnackfood. Butseveraladvertisersinsistthere\'sanothermotive. \"IbelievethattherewasadiscussionatMasterLockthatthey\'dgetalotofattentionfornotbeingintheSuperBowl, \"saysone, BobBrennan, headofU. S. mediaatLeoBurnett. Andhemayberight. Wehavecometothis:it\'snotembracingtheSuperBowlthat\'sremarkable;it\'sdaringtowalkaway. Afewyearsagoyoucouldstillfaintlymakeoutthesoundofwheelsturning, executivessittingaroundconferenceta-blesmanufacturingacolossalmarketing\"event. \"ThepretentiousRomannumerals, thekitschyhalf-timeshows, thecorporateexcess, theBudBowl. ButbynowthelegacyoflatecommissionerPeteRozelleiscomplete. Allofasudden, youcan\'tseethelittleelvescobblingittogetheranymore. Itsimplyexists, biggerthanlife. FrozeninambersomewhereistheimageofAmericansdoingthingslikestoppingintheirtracksat11a. m. onArmisticeDayasbellsrangtohonorwardead. Nowthere\'sreallyonlyonetruecommunalritualleft. TomerelysaythattheSuperBowlisfarandawayAmerica\'sbiggesttelevisioneventisn\'tenough. Tocallita\"manufacturedholiday\"doesn\'tquitedoit, either. Youcanarguenowthatithasbecomeourpre-eminentsecularholiday:theFourthofJulyisgettingstuckinbeachtraffic;NewYear\'sEveisaboutalcohol;Halloweenrotsyourteeth. Thanksgiving, maybe, youcandebate, butstatistically, HallmarkCardssays, SuperSundaygeneratesmoresocialgatheringsthananyotheroccasion. That\'swhythegreatcorporationsofAmericaaresodesperatetomind-meldwithit. Astherestofmediabecomesmoreandmorechoppedintoslivers, asratingsofeventhemostpopulartelevisionseriescontinuetodeclinesteeply, thisistheonebigTVtentthathasn\'tcollapsed. Theratingsvarybuthardlyeverbudgefromthe40s, meaningthatjustshyofhalfthehomeswithTVsetshavethegameon;nearly140millionviewerstuneinatsomepoint. What\'smore, theSuperBowlistheonlytrulywidetargetleft. TheAcademyAwardsstillskewtowardolderwomen. TheWorldSeriesisoldermen. TheSuperBowlisNo. 1ineverygroup. \"Men, women, young, old, rich, poorandinbetween, \"saysPhilDusenberry, chairmanofBBDONewYork. Butthemainthing, ofcourse, isthattheadsaretheshowitself. Peopleassemble, happilyandattentively, towatchwhattheyfindprofoundlyirritatingtherestoftheyear. SuperSundaymightbetheonetimethattelevisiontellsthetruthaboutitself--thatTVprogrammingreallyisjustbalingwirestrunguptoexhibitthecommercials. Theadvertisersproud-lystridetocenterstage. \"It\'swhatpeoplearetalkingaboutthenextmorningattheoffice--notwhathappenedinthesecondquarter, \"saysMarvinSloves, chairmanofLoweandPartners/SMS. Morethanthat, theadvertisersarecompetingintheirownparallelSuperBowl. USAToday, theonenewspaperthat\'snotuncomfortablewiththeinventionoftelevision, coversthiscontestoftheadmeisterswithobsessivethoroughness. Thefirststoriesaboutthisyear\'sadsbeganrunninglastAugust. Allofthisculminatesinthenewspaper\'s\"AdMeter\"survey, whereviewersarepolledmomentbymomentfortheirreactions. (Pepsihasthebestrecentrecord. )ThisyearFoxwillactuallyannouncetheresultsafterthegame. Theadpeoplearepursuingtheholygrail, thefabledApple\"1984\"commercial, whichairedonlyonceandcanbeblamedforanentireschoolofepic-soundingcommercialsthatdon\'tappeartomakeanysense. Nowthetrend, asMasterLocknoted, istobefunny. Inthewaythatmoviecomediesplaybetterincrowdedtheaters, biggroupsconsumingbeverageswantpunchlines. WarmandfuzzyisbetterfortheOlympics, whentheadsrepeatfor17days, andwhenthenetworkcollaboratesbyplayinguptheemotionalstorylinesoftheGamesinanefforttoattractfemaleviewers. SuperBowladvertiserspaypremiumsfarhigherthaneventhehugeratingswarrant. Thisyearthe58slotsavailableclockedinatanaverageof$1. 2millionforevery30seconds. Foxisbroadcastingthegameforthefirsttime, afterpayinganastonishing$1. 6billionfortherightstoairfootball, anditisgettingapayoffof$70million, plusmil-lionsforthefivehoursofpregameprogram-ming. Thenthere\'stheslotafterthegame. Producershaveusedittolaunchnewshows;that\'show\"TheA-Team\"and\"TheWonderYears\"gottheirstarts. Butevenmoreshowssquanderedtheirenormoussampling. LastyearNBCdecidedtotakethemoneyandrun, schedulingaspecialepisodeof\"Friends\"--withstuntcastinglikeJuliaRoberts--andgotthebiggestnum-berforanyseriesepisodeinthreeyears. Foxisdoingthesamething. Itsmostpopularshow, \"TheX-Files, \"willair, butwithoutthebellsandwhistles. \"We\'renotdoinganythingoutoftheordinary, \"creatorChrisCartersaysfirmly. Heknowshiscultishlyloyalbasewouldn\'tcountenancepandering. Thenetworkhas, however, expressedmildconcernabout\"bodyparts. \"MasterLockorno, thelineupofSuperBowladvertisersthisyearincludestheperennialmassmarketerswholiketoweavethemselvesintotheZeitgeistofAmericana:Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi, Nike, thecarcompanies. Buttherearesomespecialentrants. You\'veprobablyneverheardofacompanycalledAuto-By-Tel, whichsellscarsonline. Thiswillchange. IntelmaybethemostsuccessfulcompanyinAmerica, butit\'sneveradvertisedontheSuperBowl;muchofhigh-techadvertisinghasbeenaimedatbusinesscustomers. ButIntelhasanewcomputerchip, MMX, andanewlogotogowithit. Itwantseverybodytoknow. Thenthere\'sDirtDevilvacuumcleaners, whichlastweekheldanewsconferencewithFredAstaire\'swidow, Robyn. TheyweretoutingacommercialthatwilldebutduringtheSuperBowlshowingFredAstairedancingwith. . . oh, forgetit:you\'llseeitontheshow. THECOLOROFMONEYTheaudiencefortheSuperBowlishuge, andadvertiserspaypremiumprices. Thisyear\'sgamewillcostanavaerageof$1. 2millionforevery30-secondsegment. 1997SuperbowlAdvertisers, MinutesPurchasedAnheuser-Busch4Pepsi3OscarMayer1. 5Porche1. 5Coca-Cola1FoxFilmStudio1Honda1Nike1Nissan1Paramount1GetNewsweekonyourTablet