One of the greatest spectacles in the all of sports has to be Super Bowl Sunday and as a football fan, I can attest to that. The amount of media attention and hype even before the big day is truly amazing. Whether it is about the game itself or the half time show, the media world is a buzz about the Super Bowl and there’s nothing quite like it.

Every year one of the biggest attention grabbers is the advertisements run during game day, but what many people don’t realize is how much companies such as Mercedes-Benz and Subway actually pay for these 30 second spots. It is estimated that it cost about 3.8 million for every one of these spots and with around 60 advertisements, CBS made upwards of 220 MILLION DOLLARS. Many companies are even bold enough to say that it is worth it because not only do the reach over 100 million viewers, but they also get free media attention from news networks, talk shows, and trend on social media websites who continue to talk about them and replay their advertisements well after the game is over.

Obviously this is any marketers dream opportunity if they create the perfect advertisement, but what I don’t understand is why the general public don’t question this splurge of money considering we would probably question such an investment of money for an advertisement at any other point in the year. If these companies were so keen on getting media attention, why don’t they donate this money for a good cause instead? I’m sure that would make a similar ripple effect in the media and give them a better corporate image as well.

– One of the more popular commercials from the 2013 Super Bowl.

Next time you watch one of those amazing Super Bowl advertisements, you might want to consider the good the money used to create and air them could have done.