Game on! Super Bowl ads are returning to their goofy roots.
Men march across a hillside without pants. Toys joyride in Vegas. And the miserly Mr. Burns from "The Simpsons" loses his fortune but finds happiness.
It's a sign that people are feeling better -- or at least want to feel better -- about the economy, experts say.
The commercials tomorrow on advertising's most expensive showcase also aim to appeal to people's focus on value.
The ad lineup includes everything from economy-priced televisions by Vizio to budget cars from Kia. Denny's touts free Grand Slams again, Charles Barkley raps about $5 meal deals at Taco Bell, and the 1985 Chicago Bears resurrect their Super Bowl Shuffle for prepaid cell-phone brand Boost Mobile.
Super Bowl ads are a much-anticipated, and usually funny, sideshow. The broadcast is watched nearly as much for its commercials as for the game itself.
Last year's lineup had several uncharacteristically somber ads. Anheuser-Busch's Clydesdale ads were traditional and sweet -- but not funny.
The more staid tone reflected the nation's mood, still in shock and worrying over how deep the financial crisis would get.
To be sure, the commercials aren't all fun and games.
A prominent exception is an expected anti-abortion ad by conservative Christian group Focus on the Family.
The "Celebrate Family, Celebrate Life" ad stars former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner who helped his team win two college football championships.
When the controversial 30-second ad finally airs in the first quarter of Sunday's CBS telecast -- at a cost estimated at $2.5 million -- it's expected to show the devout quarterback and his mother, Pam, sharing the story of how she gave birth to him in the Philippines in 1987 after spurning a doctor's advice to have an abortion for medical reasons.
The controversy over the ad ignited Jan. 25 when the National Organization for Women, the Feminist Majority and other liberal women's groups launched a protest campaign aimed at pressuring CBS to scrap the ad. Abortion-rights advocates joined in.
Derek D. Rucker, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, said he plans to watch that ad with keen interest.
"I will be curious to see how the public perceives it" given the polarizing subject matter, he said.
Rucker oversees the school's annual Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review.
For the ad to work, it will have to be low-key and not seem like preaching, he said.
"They'll have to be able to deliver the message softly," he said.
But overall, the laughs are back.
"Six months ago if you were optimistic or happy, it was awkward, and people looked and said, 'How insensitive can you be?'" said Allen Adamson, managing director of branding firm Landor Associates in New York. "Now it's socially acceptable not to be sullen and depressed, but within reason. And I think the Super Bowl provides one of those venues where you can still kick back and have a good time."
Advertisers recognize that and are still willing to pay top dollar for the exposure.
The 30-second spots sold for a minimum of $2.5 million; some sold for more than $3 million. Last year's game brought in $213 million, according to Kantar Media. CBS has not been claiming record prices, although it has said average prices are better than last year.
Staff writer Louis Llovio contributed to this report.
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