With the Super Bowl less than a week away, this is when the anxiety really boils on Madison Avenue. Is our spot going to bomb? Are we too late in the game? Is anyone going to watch Pittsburgh vs. Arizona? Is any of this madness worth it?!!????

Advertising Age puts at least a bit of that fear to rest:

Surely, spending $3 million on a Super Bowl ad in the midst of a crushing economic downturn is a foolish waste when chief marketing officers’ jobs are on the line?

On the contrary, it’s a bargain.

The Super Bowl presents not just a huge platform with astounding audience numbers where consumers actually lean forward to watch your ad. It also pays surprising ancillary dividends in awareness: reams of press coverage that drive word-of-mouth and stampeding traffic to websites. Most importantly, for the right company, it can establish a relationship and sell product.

Of course, you still have to get the creative right and hope that audiences are interested in the game. Feel any better?

Keep an eye on:

• Movies sales were slow, but not totally missing, at the Sundance Film Festival, which ended Sunday in Park City, Utah (New York Times)
• Publicis won a global advertising deal with French supermarket group Carrefour, boosting its shares and depressing those of rival Havas, which previously held a large part of the contract (Reuters)

(Photo: Reuters)