The world's television screens are tuned to today's big event in Indianapolis -- Super Bowl XLVI. Everything's poised for the big day -- the NFL Social Media Command Center is humming, Madonna has rehearsed and is ready, the Patriots and the Giants are raring to get on the field.
Some are worried the game might be a ho-hum matchup.
But wait! A bigger matchup might be brewing in Madmen land. The TV Commercial Bowl just got HOT. We heard that Ford is crying "foul!" on Chevy for their Super Bowl truck ad that ends implying Ford trucks won't survive the Mayan apocalypse. In fact, Ford sent letters to GM and NBC requesting the ad be pulled from tonight's game.
In fact, there are countless sites from USA Today to live-blogging commercials by AdAge attempting to help advertising pundits and consumers make sense of all the commercials.
But this is rich. In the final hours, is Ford a crybaby or a brand taking the high road? Is Chevy loving all the attention? How many YouTube hits will the commercial get? Bigger than the 50+ million of last year's Darth Vadar/VW commercial?
Here's what Chevy said in a press release. "We stand by our claims in the commercial, that the Silverado is the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickup on the road," said GM Global Chief Marketing Officer Joel Ewanic. "We can wait until the world ends, and if we need to, we will apologize. In the meantime, people who are really worried about the Mayan calendar coming true should buy a Silverado right away."
THIS is where the best excitement might take place. Grab your popcorn, or chicken wings, or pizza and settle in for a REAL battle.
Will NBC air the Chevy commercial? Will Chevy get big buzz for the effort? What does this do to each brand? Will Twitter and Facebook blow up with conversation around the topic. Will the controversy overshadow the Ferris Bueller Honda ad?
And finally, I wonder what the Vegas odds are on the commercial airing today. Guess we'll have to follow the #Chevy and #Ford hashtags on Twitter to find out.
Beverly Macy is the CEO of Gravity Summit and the co-author of "The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing." Gravity Summit's upcoming event on February 22, 2012 at UCLA will address social media in sports & entertainment. She also teaches executive global marketing and branding and social media marketing for the UCLA Extension and lectures at Anderson Business School. Email her at beverlymacy@gmail.com.