Super Bowl 2012: What Will Be More Exciting, Giants vs. Patriots or Commercials?

Since the Super Bowl began in January of 1967, the game has become a spectacle in American sports and arguably the single biggest sporting event in the world.

Even for those not attending the game, many non-football fans even tune in for the commercials.

That being said, with Super Bowl XLVI being a rematch of Super Bowl XLII between the New England Patriots and New York Giants, the game is expected to be quite entertaining.

So to begin the debate: what will be more exciting, the Super Bowl or its' commercials?

Super Bowl XLVI

The game, for what it's worth, is the obvious reason why everything else gets to happen on Super Sunday. The media/fan days, pregame, halftime and postseason shows and everything else that encompasses what the Super Bowl represents.

Then again, there's also been some lopsided Super Bowls which were ultimately then overshadowed by the commercials, halftime shows and non-football related activities during the eventful week.

Well, don't anticipate that happening because the Giants and Patriots will play one of the best Super Bowls to date. For starters, it's becoming and inter-conference rivalry as they met in Super Bowl XLII that went down to the wire.

It then happened again in the 2011 regular season at Gillette Stadium.

There, the Giants and Patriots met and New York pulled off another upset over New England in the final minutes, winning 24-20. As for Super Bowl XLVI, expect a nail-biter because each team is virtually an exact replica of the other.

Each have a great passing offense, capable rushing attack when needed, solid pass rush and a vulnerable pass defense. Also, their coaches (Bill Belichick and Tom Coughlin) have a history as both were assistants under Bill Parcells with the Giants from 1988-1990.

They then met in the 1996 postseason when Belichick was an assistant under Parcells with New England and Coughlin was the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Fast forward to the 2007 season and Super Bowl XLII already had history before kickoff.

Now include two of the NFL's best quarterbacks in Tom Brady and Eli Manning, along with players such as Rob Gronkowski and Victor Cruz who are having breakout years, and this game has everything a football fan could want.

Both teams know one another quite well. Plus if history tells us anything, it's that Super Bowl rematches are just as good as, if not better than the first meeting.

So, whether you're a die-hard, fair weather or non-football fan, be sure to tune into Super Bowl XLVI because regardless of who wins, history will be made.

Commercials

Now we get to the fun part for everyone, not just those interested in the game.

If there's one reason why America tunes into the Super Bowl excluding the game, it's the commercials.

For years some of the most memorable commercials have been witnessed on Super Sunday and more are sure to come. One mesmerizing aspect though, is the costly price combined with the risk and limited time. In an article by Kristi Dosh of ESPN, let's just say staggering:

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Some experts question whether an advertisement’s success should be gauged based on social media impressions. This year’s Brand Keys Super Bowl Engagement Survey, which measures to what degree brand values are affected by advertising during the Super Bowl, found Volkswagen and Honda to be unaffected, not coming out as a winner or a loser in the Super Bowl advertising game. That’s tough news when commercials cost an average of $3.5 million for 30 seconds.

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These days in this economy, it's tough for anyone to risk losing a few bucks but $3.5 million-dollars? Obviously, the return on investment will decrease that number but if a company doesn't turn a profit from forking over that kind of dough is hitting a rough patch.

Then again, we as fans and consumers must be intrigued by every 30-second piece. Which only adds to the fun of watching the Super Bowl's commercials.

Plus, with all the social media online nowadays we can catch a glimpse of what to expect. Stacy Jones of the Star-Ledger writes that advertisers are taking advantage of promoting via the Internet:

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Companies have been using tweets, posts, games and teasers to leverage the influence their multi-million dollar advertisements will have, and some will even use social interactions to keep the momentum going after the game.

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Jones continues stating what the expected forecast is for Super Bowl XLVI:

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Industry analysts predict that the Boston-New York matchup will give NBC an even bigger audience than the 111 million who tuned in to watch Fox’s broadcast last year.

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So, just from the commercial perspective of the Super Bowl, fans and consumers alike are getting all-encompassed access to the convenience of multimedia marketing. Worst case-scenario if the commercial doesn't interest you, there's always food before the TV station returns to the gridiron.

John Rozum on Twitter.