The deluge of early looks at Super Bowl ads, both entire spots and teasers, has helped brands generate lots of buzz online and elsewhere long before Sunday. And in terms of creating brand presence before the Big Game that didn't used to occur, it's hard to argue with that strategy.

But the tidal wave of sneak peeks and January reveals also has allowed early germination of inevitable controversies. Whether the publicity created by those whirlwinds has been good or bad for the brands and their overall Super Bowl branding efforts probably falls under the usual maxim of PR: "as long as you spell my name right."

GoDaddy.com has always bared everything in its Super Bowl ads, so there's no surprise in the controversy over one of its two ads released this week. It's an up-close and personal look at a brief make-out session between supermodel Bar Refaeli and actor Jesse Heiman — something about small business scoring.Continue reading...

With the Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans just seven weeks away, more brands are announcing and making their decisions about TV spots and about the ever-broadening advertising environment around the Big Game. CBS is working to sell the last handful of spots for the broadcast of Super Bowl XLVII from New Orleans, and Ad Age reports that ad packages are going for an average of $3.7 million to $3.8 million. A few of the latest:

MillerCoors is sneaking through the back door into the Super Bowl using a tactic that other advertisers, including auto brands, have used over the years: buying up regional and local TV time. In the brewer's case, it has purchased time during the game on local TV stations in the Great Lakes and Southeast for a 15-second ad for Redd's Apple Ale, an apple-flavored malt beverage that it began testing over the summer, Ad Age reports. MillerCoors can't do national Super Bowl buys because Anheuser-Busch InBev is the exclusive beer sponsor of the NFL, meaning it gets to bring back its Bud Light Hotel to the Big Easy among other cross-promotion around the game.Continue reading...

American Airlines and United 9/11 lawsuits may finally get resolved.

Andy Murray is poised for endorsement deals after historic U.S. Open win.

Apple will boost carriers and U.S. economy with release of iPhone 5 as Samsung is ready to sue and iPad Mini pictures leak.

Burberry rocks luxury sector with warning of lower sales and profits.

Chevrolet disputes Reuters' Volt report.

Chrysler unveils new models to dealers, prices new Viper around $100,000.

Dallas Morning News launches social-content marketing company.

FedEx and UPS gain ground in China.

GM stops deliveries of several popular 2013 vehicles to fix OnStar glitch.Continue reading...

Airbus and Boeing walk fine line about global airliner demands.

Apple finds some iPhone users souring on Siri as it may be gearing up to producer smaller iPad.

Audi opens first digital showrooms.

Barclays apologizes in new campaign for Libor scandal.

BSkyB prepares to launch Now TV.

Clorox targets Hispanics with Fraganzia line of cleaning products.

Digg founder revisits missteps that led to company's fall.

Ford funds parties featuring Escape to combat hunger.Continue reading...

We have already taken a long look at the extensive official merchandise from the phenomenal film The Hunger Games. Now, a look at a few things that fans can pick up that do not bear the stamp of approval from Lionsgate, Scholastic or any other Hunger Games copyright holder. To Etsy we go!

First up (above): The Hunger Games Capitol Serving Platter ($35) Serve up some delicious nosh during your next Reaping watch party!Continue reading...

As the world's biggest stage for marketers, we'd have to give Super Bowl XLVI, generously, a B-minus. While the game was compellingly competitive right until the last play, and Madonna acquitted herself pretty well for a 53-year-old halftime-show attraction, America's brand marketers barely held up their end of the extravaganza.

For one thing, there was no genuine stand-up-and-cheer advertising moment during NBC's telecast as there was last year, in Chrysler's spot featuring Eminem and its new Chrysler 200 "Imported from Detroit," although Clint Eastwood was a worthy successor.

In fact, stand-out moments in the ads were almost non-existent; the humor that carried most of the ads didn't come close to an outbreak of hilarity; and a few spots manifested jump-the-shark syndrome, such as an NBC promo that cameoed Betty White.Continue reading...

In that grand old Super Bowl tradition, GoDaddy.com will be back this year with a (surprise!) racy spot, featuring celeb endorsers Danica Patrick and Jillian Michaels, and a 'nude' model. "We set the standard of indecency," jokes a winking Bob Parsons, GoDaddy's outspoken CEO, to USA Today. "My ads never suggest the act of sex. Any sex in the ads is manufactured in the minds of the viewers."

Chevrolet, meanwhile, wants to draw game viewers even closer — to its brand and products that the GM division is advertising during the telecast, as well as to the Big Game itself. It's also looking for a way to punch out of the huge gaggle of car brands and ads that have insinuated themselves into Super Bowl XLVI on February 5.

So Chevy will be promoting its new Chevy Game Time App, which will allow viewers of the Super Bowl to play trivia, interact with one another via Twitter, participate in polls relating to the game and teams and Super Bowl ads, and possibly win one of 20 Chevrolets or thousands of other prizes as a result.

"This is the first time any company has attempted such a large-scale app, which will enhance the game-watching experience and help them engage in the online conversation about the Super Bowl," said Joel Ewanick, GM's global CMO. Continue reading...

Victoria's Secret has been nominated as one of the top 10 brands on CBS's Greatest Super Bowl Commercials, and it's asking fans to vote at cbs.com/superbowl by January 31st — and then tune in on February 1st to see if Victoria's Secret won as Best Brand, and vote live for your favorite commercial. Other brands in the running include Bud Light, Budweiser, Careerbuilder.com, Coke, Doritos, E-Trade, FedEx, GoDaddy, and Pepsi.