Super Bowl ads can be a bellwether for the economy because they show which companies are willing to spend $4 million on a 30-second spot. In 2000, for instance, at the height of the dot com boom, 13 technology startups advertised in the Super Bowl. By 2001, after the bubble had burst, there were just three.
This year,Kanken Bag Sale, fewer websites and software companies aired ads compared to the past four years and more ads appeared from packaged food and luxury auto makers, according to research firm Ace Metrix, which measures the effectiveness of ads. Absent were edgier companies willing to take risks, such as E(asterisk)Trade and Groupon, while more staid brands like Cheerios and Heinz joined the mix.
