While ads for beer, cars, and soda will probably dominate Sunday’s post–Super Bowl discussion of the Big Game’s big ads, we here at Vulture are most keen to check out the movies and TV shows that’ll be hyped during the annual marketing orgy. On the film side, Ad Age says we can expect to see trailers for Captain America: The First Avenger, Rio, Rango, Transformers 3, Kung Fu Panda 2, Thor,Cowboys & Aliens and Super 8. As for TV, Sunday will give Super Bowl network Fox the chance to build buzz for a slew of its own current and upcoming shows. CBS raised the bar last year with its in-house Oprah-Dave-Jay spot, so what can Fox do to get tongues wagging? Two words: Simon and dinosaurs.
While nothing’s locked yet, Fox marketing chief Joe Earley and his team are furiously working to cut teaser spots for two of Fox’s big guns for 2011: May’s debut of prehistoric action-adventure Terra Nova and the fall premiere of Simon Cowell’s The X-Factor. In the case of Terra Nova, the Super Bowl will be the first time general audiences will get a peek at the very expensive Steven Spielberg production (a press preview of footage last month generated solid reviews). As for X, Fox has aired some generic ads in recent months touting the show’s arrival, but there’s a good chance Sunday will mark the first time Cowell himself will appear to hype X. (Nobody at Fox would confirm that Friday.)
Not surprisingly, two shows debuting next week — The Chicago Code and the horribly titled comedy Traffic Light — will get exposure, but the network will also spend plenty of time promoting shows already on the air, with football-themed spots focusing on House and the Sunday animation block. There’ll be some love for Idol, and of course there’ll be Glee — lots and lots of Glee. We’ve got one of the Glee spots scheduled to run Sunday (perhaps in a slightly modified form) posted below for your pregame pleasure.
