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The tongue-in-cheek ad opens on a funeral scene and then cuts to a young man alive in a closed casket. His body is covered in Doritos and he is watching the Super Bowl on a tiny TV while chomping on chips as mourners sob outside. Two friends, who are in on the prank, snicker that by faking his death, their friend will get a week off work and an endless supply of his favorite snack. But the man gets excited when his team makes a big play and jostles the casket, which tips over to reveal him inside with a pile of crushed chips. After an awkward pause, his buddy jumps up and nervously exclaims to the shocked assemblage: "Aaaah! It's a miracle!" If it wins, Mosaic's ad could do more for the church after Super Bowl Sunday than it does in the 30 seconds of air time. Fans remember and recount their favorite commercials long after the clock runs out and the buzz around Mosaic's ad could amp up because of its genesis, said Mark Labberton, a professor of preaching at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. Super Bowl ad prices have dipped slightly this year, with CBS selling them for between $2.5 million and $2.8 million per 30-second unit this year, down from an average of $3 million last year on NBC, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The prices are so high because the game is the most-viewed show on television each year, with viewers tuning in to watch the commercials as much as the game itself. Last year, nearly 100 million people tuned in, according to Nielsen. Mosaic is "saying we're actually going to enter the scene ourselves, we're going to become a player ourselves and we're going to contribute to the landscape of how people talk about the Super Bowl," Labberton, the professor, said. "It could well become one of the most talked about commercials of the year." By Sunday afternoon, the ad had received almost 92,000 views. The finalists won't know if they've won until they watch the Super Bowl, said Chris Kuechenmeister, spokesman for Frito-Lay. "Nobody's going to fall on their knees and accept Jesus as a result of this spot. But advertisers on Madison Avenue spend millions on a Super Bowl spot because they know it influences people," said Cooke, the producer. "It might not get someone converted, but I think it will get someone to say,
'Maybe there is something I ought to investigate.'"
[Associated
Press;
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