Super Bowl Ads

Chevy's Super Bowl ad poking fun at Ford's pickups has turned into an all-out brawl in Detroit. Has Ford just lost its sense of humor, or is there more at stake here than meets the eye? Actually, there's a lot more -- and some of it's great news.

Between 2002 and 2011, companies spent a whopping $2.5 billion on Super Bowl advertising; this year, a 30-second commercial cost an average of $3.5 million. But what do you get for all that cash. In the case of these eight major advertisers, not as much as they'd hoped.

Hershey has been disturbingly lax in addressing abusive child labor practices in the Africa's cocoa industry, and recently, over 100,000 consumers let the company know they're not pleased. Now the chocolatier is changing its ways -- just in time.

Call it the "second-screen" Super Bowl. About two-thirds of smartphone and tablet owners use their gadgets to do things like text or post on Twitter while watching TV, according to research firm Nielsen. So, for Sunday's game, companies from Coke to Chevy are trying to reach fans on all the "second screens" they have.

After watching Timothy Hutton describe the desperate situation in Tibet, and then comparing it to saving money at a Tibetan restaurant with Groupon, do you want to unsubscribe from Groupon's daily emails offering prepaid coupons for local merchants? If so, you're in good company. A lot of people...

In its marketing blitz for the Super Bowl, Planters is giving away the same product minutes before the game that it's spending millions to advertise on TV at nearly the same time. At 6 p.m. Sunday on its Facebook page, the nut company will offer a coupon good for one free $3.49 package of its...

It used to be all about surprising game-day viewers with knock-out ads and creating buzz after the final whistle. But lately more advertisers are posting commercials online ahead of the game, trying to build early buzz instead. Which strategy works better? At risk is a tidy sum.

As American Idol continues to fall flat with viewers, advertisers are flocking to the Super Bowl, which may just turn out to be the Hail Mary pass that Fox Broadcasting needs.

Showbiz veteran Betty White has been cresting quite the popularity wave lately. After work on TV shows like The Golden Girls, Super Bowl ads and a guest-hosting stint on Saturday Night Live, she has landed a two-book deal with Penguin.

It was controversial for CBS to accept an anti-abortion ad from group Focus on the Family. But long before the game started, Focus had already accomplished its goal of communicating a pro-life message through the vehicle of affable college-football star Tim Tebow and his mother.