Google “The Big Game” and you’ll discover a long list of advertisers using that phrase as a free way to reference Super Bowl XLIV without paying off Roger Goodell and company.  It’s become a very common practice.

A quick perusal of sponsored links shows that AT&T wants anyone getting a Big TV for the Big Game to know it oughta have U-Verse.  Motorola offers only a tease, promising little more than the cryptic come-on that they’ll have a “Big Game surprise.”  I doubt it will live up to anything the average viewer might imagine…

In the always fun world of drinking and boozing, Miller High Life seems to be taking the high road, claiming they will be helping out the Little Guys on their Big Game spot.  Crown Royal takes more of a local approach with a reminder to give a bottle of their blended whisky to your Big Game Host and treat him like a king.  Their parent company Diageo suggests you mix your own perfect drink recipes for the Big Game at thebar.com since candidly, they’ll be glad if you buy any variety of spirit, as long as it’s theirs.

Sam’s Club is so excited about having you take your Big Game celebration to championship heights, but as of late Thursday night, their countdown graphic was running three days premature (see figure B).  On the plus side, LG Canada gave away a Big TV for the Big Game which Amy Tucker of Kamloops, British Columbia won it (Party at Amy’s place! In Kamloops!).

Online, Nola.com has cool gear for the Big Game, and the honoluluadvertiser.com has a disturbingly-sweet bean dip recipe for the Big Game.  Meanwhile, 2000 Flushes paid a blogger to run a sweepstakes that asks “is your toilet bowl ready for the Big Game?” (90 million toilets will be flushed during halftime!).

Advertising on the Super Bowl is a huge financial commitment and one that, despite CBS finally selling all their inventory, is not the lay-up it once was.  A good portion of the American Public thinks Chrysler shouldn’t have bought an expensive ad for Dodge so shortly after taking government aid money.

And yet with this much hype, this much interest, and this much collective attention paid to one of the very few remaining mass audience aggregations, the cost per exposure is a far better buy than your average :30 TV spot.

That shouldn’t surprise anybody.  It’s the Big Game–it merits a big bet.

By Dennis Ryan, CCO, Element 79

PS:  Living in the Bay Area and having limited exposure to football is no excuse to try to pass off the Cal Berkeley vs Stanford contest as “The Big Game.”  Even hyperbole has its limits.  Which the NFL sued to protect (read about that here).