Although $5 million may sound steep, it doesn't even tell the whole story. That number does not account for the production (advertising agencies, writers, actors, special effects, etc.); nor does it account for the promotional campaign and teaser ads that now accompany the spots. Some experts place the total cost of a Super Bowl ad in the tens of millions.

The ads also come with a big risk: If an ad flops ----  or worse, creates backlash ----  it can be an embarrassment and a big waste of money. A commercial for Nationwide insurance that showed a young boy lamenting the things he would never be able to do because he had died from a preventable accident was quickly derided for being too morose. More than a few advertisers have lost jobs over Super Bowl ads.

As a result of high cost and potential risk, some companies that typically buy spots, like Doritos and GoDaddy, are sitting on the sidelines this year. Likewise, the Kraft Heinz Company decided to forego an ad on game day and instead will grant all their employees the day off on Monday the 6th. In conjunction with that decision, they created a digital campaign promoting the idea in hopes that it will go viral. They claim that if they can reach 100,000 signatures, they will petition Congress to make the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday a national holiday. 

The Kraft Heinz gimmick notwithstanding, Super Bowl advertising does have its benefits. T he Super Bowl is unique, because it draws a large live audience in an era when consumers widely DVR programming and skip ads. According to Val DiFebo, CEO of ad agency Deutsch, "Not only are people watching live, but they are also engaged and on fire, talking more about the commercials than about the games across multiple social channels. That 30-second ad during a three-hour game essentially has been extended to a three- to four-week opportunity to engage with the consumer."

Still, the pressure is high for the spots to become multimedia darlings, get the thumbs up from consumers and stand out among a sea of corporate advertisers, all of whom have multi-million dollar budgets. One company attempting to stand out this year is candy-maker Mars Inc. who will shoot and air a commercial in real-time during the game. The spot for their brand Snickers will feature Adam Driver and have a western theme. They're using a live ad as a way for to draw more attention and capitalize on the general excitement of anything that happens in real time.

Each year, the Super Bowl makes legends out of a few advertisers, and fools out of many.  Because of this intense scrutiny, there really are two concurrent, high-stakes games being played on Super Bowl Sunday: one on the field and one during commercial breaks.