Boozer gets time in Super Bowl ad

It's time for that annual winter ritual where people gather before their TV screens to whoop and holler as they gobble down unhealthy treats.

Yes, it's Super Bowl time. And Sunday's NFL championship wouldn't be complete without a look at its uber-expensive advertising, which is priced at an all-time high.

The ads that will air during Sunday's game include one by Salt Lake City-based Overstock.com. The 30-second ad features Utah Jazz player Carlos Boozer and is scheduled to air immediately following the halftime festivities. The ad shows Boozer talking with kids about dedication.

On Friday, NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., said it was in talks to sell the last two of the 67 spots for the game, which have gone for between $2.4 million and $3 million per 30-second slot.

"Considering the state of the economy in the United States, we couldn't be any more thrilled," said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Universal Sports & Olympics.

The Super Bowl remains the premier advertising event: It boasts a U.S. audience of 100 million, the biggest of any American telecast. It's also a marketer's dream: Viewers actually like watching the commercials.

This year, a few commercials will reflect the weak economy, but by and large, the ads aim to deliver glitz, guffaws and groans — like they do every year.

There will be celebrity appearances in ads, including Conan O'Brien for Bud Light, John Turturro for Heineken USA Inc. and Jason Statham for Audi of America Inc.

Animals will figure prominently again, with Anheuser-Busch's Clydesdales expected to appear in three of seven commercials from the Budweiser brewer. One is a tearjerker about a horse that joins the circus.

Internet domain registrar The Go Daddy Group Inc., will air a somewhat risque spot, as it has done in the past. While its less-than-slick ads that the company made itself, featuring racer Danica Patrick, are bound to make viewers groan, Go Daddy doesn't care. At least Go Daddy got approved. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals got steamed because NBC rejected its ad for vegetarianism that featured half-naked women playing with vegetables.

To be sure, such tempests are part of the marketing shenanigans surrounding the game. At the very least, it drives people online to watch the banned ad.

John Gerzema, chief insights officer at Y&R, a unit of advertising giant WPP Group PLC, said keeping the brand top of mind after the Super Bowl gets advertisers the most bang for the small fortune spent to buy air time.

A 30-second Super Bowl spot is about 20 times more expensive than the average commercial time on prime time network programs this time of year, according to TNS Media.