USA Today Facebook Super Bowl Admeter (2012)
GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) -- The Super Bowl commercial blitz this year is much different than years past -- many companies' commercials are already out, and it has some wondering if companies are releasing too much too soon.
When you go to YouTube, you can already see some of the Super Bowl ads. One of the Volkswagen commercials features an overweight dog who decides it's time to make changes in his life. It's already received two million hits.
"This year is unique in the sense that so many of the commercials are available online for people to see, to vote on and get excited about," says Bill McKendry, chief creative officer at Hanon McKendry Advertising.
Each year, Hanon McKendry holds a Super Bowl party and analyzes the ads after they've aired.
"I think they are ruining the buzz value of the response by having it come out beforehand," says McKendry.
Companies that have already released commercials include CareerBuilder and Chevrolet, but the one that seems to have received the most attention before game day is from Honda. In the ad, Matthew Broderick re-lives his days as "Ferris Bueller" and takes the day off. So far, that commercial has been viewed at least five million times online. Other companies like Coca Cola have released sneak peaks.
"They've created a whole bunch of teaser ads, saying watch for our ad during the Super Bowl, which I think is a better strategy than just putting your ad out there and hoping people will remain excited about it," says McKendry.
Just a few of the companies that chose not to preview their commercials were Super Bowl regulars -- E*TRADE and Budweiser. Chrysler also has a highly anticipated ad featuring actor-director Clint Eastwood.