USA Today has your first article on the Super Bowl Ads that will be featured on February 1st, and the McPaper is saying that most companies will be going for the funneh this year. Not only will you get spots from the regulars (Coke, Pepsi, Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, Doritos), but a few new companies are taking the leap. Even in during this iffy economy....

Sure, the economy has become gloomy and unpredictable for 2009, but folks can expect business as usual for one day: Feb. 1, Super Bowl Sunday.

Game advertisers will offer the familiar upbeat mix of punch lines, animal tricks, sentiment and special effects.

Tax service H&R Block thinks viewers will appreciate humor in its ad. "(Consumers) are saying, 'We know times are tough … but we still want to laugh,' " says Steve Wehrenberg, CEO of Block's ad agency Campbell Mithun.

The price tag for a 30-second ad slot also follows tradition: It's up again this year, to an average $3 million from $2.7 million in 2008. NBC says it has about 10% of 67 game ad slots left. Most sold early, though, and sales have been tough since the economy sank in the fall. Companies don't seem to be having second thoughts, however, about buying into an event with 97.5 million viewers in 2008.

"The ads will feature actor Windell Middlebrooks, the Miller High Life deliveryman in ads, and the timing is aimed at boosting sales for Super Sunday.

"The one-second game-day stunt ad — known as a "blink" — will air on 25 local NBC stations reaching about 60% of the TV audience. The ad will (in a flash) promote Miller website 1secondad.com, which has the TV ad, more one-second ads and a buyer loyalty program.