Marketers running ads for ads ahead of Super Bowl

The big game isn't until Feb. 7, but chances are you're already familiar with some of this year's Super Bowl commercials.

That's because marketers are increasingly showing previews and teasers of their Super Bowl ads — in essence, advertisements for advertisements.

In December of 2015, Butterfinger released a video of a skydiver eating one of its chocolate bars in mid-air.

Upon landing, he goes on to announce that the chocolate bar will be featured in a Super Bowl commercial directed by Armando Bo, who co-wrote the movie Birdman.

• See the video here

So basically, we have a company running a commercial to announce that it's going to run a commercial.

• See the video here

​Each commercial features a different genius, leading up to — one assumes — a mega-brainiac in the actual Super Bowl ad.

As usual, three finalists in the annual Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" contest — which features fan-made ads vying for a Super Bowl spot — were posted online in November.

So we've already seen the actual Doritos ad that will run during the game — we're just not sure which of the three it is.

• See the video here

​In another ad, we see a man leaving the water on while brushing his teeth. As he ignores the water, other people start using it for drinking, washing food and cooking. Type at the end says, "When you brush your teeth with the tap running, you waste over 10 litres of water."

• See the video here

This 60-second commercial ran in the U.S. in 2014. According to Colgate, we'll see a 30-second version in this year's Super Bowl. Impressive — not only is the commercial green, it's recycled.

Capping off all this preview activity is host network CBS, which is running two Super Bowl commercial specials leading up to the game. One of them will run Saturday night and give us sneak peeks at some of this year's actual ads.

But the most extreme tease of all has to be an ad for Newcastle beer, which premiered in Feburary of 2015 — to build hype for Newcastle's ad airing during the 2016 Super Bowl game.

• See the video here

​So why would Super Bowl marketers spend a bunch of extra money making elaborate teasers and previews?

Well, 30 seconds of air time in the game now costs about $5 million dollars U.S. — not including creative and production costs.

So by exposing their concepts early and smearing them all over social media, marketers are hoping to exponentially increase viewership to help pay for some of their massive Super Bowl investment.

Bruce Chambers is a syndicated advertising columnist for CBC Radio.