Super Bowl XXXV | Ads: Revenge of the Blue Chips

Super Bowl XXXV is Sunday, January 28, 2001, on CBS and once again, much of the public's focus is less on the actual game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Ravens and more on the half-time performances, the national anthem, and of course, those often wacky, occasionally effective, and always expensive commercials.

Super Bowl Sunday has effectively become a national holiday and is perennially the biggest advertising event of the year. "The Super Bowl is a way to instantly reach 130 million viewers in 30 seconds," says Monster.com CEO Jeff Taylor. "It's really the Ad Bowl. It's one of the few venues where people watch commercials."

Last year 17 dot-com companies, eagerly looking to spend their investors' cash to acquire instant name recognition, caused the average price of a 30-second spot to surge a half million dollars to about $2.2 million.

Don't cry for CBS however. The network will get its money, with revenues for the day estimated in the $150 million range. With the hugely anticipated Survivor II: The Australian Outback following the post-game, CBS is betting that most viewers will tune into the network well into the night. In many Super Bowls, viewership can fall close to 20 percent during the fourth quarter, especially if the game is a blowout. Don't count on much falloff this year. Incidentally, CBS is reportedly charging a cool million for spots during Survivor.

For those of you looking to dazzle your friends and family with your knowledge of the new upcoming ads, here is a sampling of what you can expect on Super Sunday. For you people out there who like to be surprised during the game, look away from your computer screen…now!