Super Bowl Commercials 2012: Leaking Ads Online Bad for NFL

I don't know the exact breakdown of the average Super Bowl audience by demographic, but I would imagine the standard viewership includes a significant portion contingent upon folks who tune in specifically for the commercials.

This is precisely why the NFL can't be all too happy with the interwebs these days, YouTube in particular.

Peruse just about any corner of the web for more than a few minutes and you'll likely notice a bevy of Super Bowl ads already on display. From Matthew Broderick semi-reprising his role as Ferris Bueller and Jerry Seinfeld competing for car keys to Will Arnett hyping Hulu and a rec league hockey game, advertisers haven't bothered to wait for Super Bowl Sunday to unveil their pricey spots.

As such, those who would usually be keen to sit through a four-hour televised sports extravaganza just to watch commercials, now have the freedom to cut through the usual kerfuffle and watch the latest and "greatest" ads at their own leisure.

That could very well mean fewer pairs of eyes on the Super Bowl on game day which, in turn, means less leverage for the NFL and the networks in selling already-overpriced air time to corporations competing for the nation's short consumption attention span.

Not that this will (or should) in any way affect the viewing experience for those who actually tune into the Super Bowl for football rather than glorified mini-movies replete with celebrity cameos.

Rather, this emerging phenomenon—of "leaking" ads and distributing "teasers" to the actual ones—serves to shed light on just how ridiculous the uniquely American practice of paying closer attention to commercials than to actual programming truly is.

I can only hope, then, that the day will soon come when football fans will be able to watch two quality teams duke it out for the Vince Lombardi Trophy without having to concern themselves quite as much with two- and three-minute ads for products they're probably not going to buy anyway.

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