Super Bowl social media has changed the game

It’s old hat for social media jockeys now

For sports fans, the Super Bowl is the culmination of the NFL season. Even for casual fans, Super Bowl time is a pop culture chill out, as the viral commercials fly fast and furious and the halftime show always presents the chance to either see the performers have a wardrobe malfunction or finally succumb to rigor mortis, perhaps both. Payday loans for mummification supplies are available, and hotlines are at the ready in Roger Goodell’s skybox.

But how about this chocolate-peanut butter collision?

Television commercials alone aren’t enough anymore; online social media like Twitter, Facebook and more have ramped up the Super Bowl experience to an entirely different level. Fans, advertisers and players are all in on the action, from Facebook fan pages to contests and various other promotions, it’s a completely interactive experience that mere television cannot match.

What Super Bowl social media can do for you

Thanks to Mashable’s round-up, here are a few highlights of what to expect from Super Bowl social media this weekend:

Lots of controversy

GoDaddy: Watch out for the “Lola” ad online that was banned by CBS. It’s received it’s share of negative buzz, but perhaps the Danica Patrick-driven ads are cashing in on the “no publicity is bad publicity” concept.
ManCrunch: See the video below. Men need intimate time, apparently.
Focus on the Family: This is the pro-life Tim Tebow commercial that the makers insist isn’t a politically charged religio-political ad on national television. Yes, all organized religion is politics. You heard it here first.

Creating a sports buzz (w/product tie-ins, of course)

Coca-Cola: Live Positively on Facebook, football fans. Share a virtual Coke and send some money to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. You’ll feel just like the kid who got the “Mean” Joe Greene jersey.

Budweiser: Fans are being encouraged to vote on Facebook for what ad they want to see.
Target: Not technically a Super Bowl social media player, but their Super Love Sender is a Valentine’s Day attraction.
Monster: A Super Bowl advertising veteran, Monster is featuring a microsite called Fiddle a Friend. Because what job hunter in this economy couldn’t use a fiddle-playing beaver?

If you don’t care about the game

Then something is wrong with you. Sorry, kidding. It will be a good game, but I can understand wanting to do something else. I’d rather be watching baseball, or playing it, but that’s just me. Here are alternatives in Super Bowl social media:

Pepsi: No Super Bowl commercial, but plenty of social media fun to be had, thanks to the Pepsi Refresh Project.
Fill in your favorite social media time-waster here.

NFL players twitter and tweet

The NFL: The Tag the Super Bowl #SB44 is a joint Twitter/Flickr venture, and as a whole this is the NFL’s first official foray into Super Bowl social media madness. According to Mashable, the “initiative encourages fans to tag their tweets and Flickr photos with the SB44 hashtag.” The NFL will pull it all together into a great photo album.
Chad Ochocinco: Lots of players past and present are on Twitter and Facebook. Not to be outdone, however, Chad Ochocinco will be on Motorola’s OCNN to cover the game and rap about the color of his underwear – or something.

Slow down; untwitter your brain

Your payday loans blogger says that Super Bowl social media is changing the way fans interact with the game and its players. Yet it still can’t make him care more about football than baseball. Baseball operates outside the boundaries of time – there is no game clock. Since we’re all rushing toward our social media graves at 4G speed these days – with nary a moment to Twitter our parting shots – I think it’s nice to have something where the game continues until it ends, not until a clock runs out or advertisers tell us.

Related Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MQWFiIrBLA