Among other things, the Super Bowl, the championship game of the National Football League (NFL) in the United States, is known for the high-profile advertisements that are aired during its television broadcast. Because the Super Bowl is a very highly rated program, prices for advertising space can cost millions of dollars. In 2007, 30 seconds of advertising time cost US$2.6 million due to the extremely large audience, typically more than 90 million viewers. Conversely, the high price tag of the commercials all but promises that they will be spectacular and innovative in most cases. The commercials are often highly anticipated, generating much buzz even before the game is played.

To the delight of many viewers outside the U.S., these high-profile ads are usually only seen via the originating American network. Viewers elsewhere see local ads instead which, due to the lower popularity of American football outside the U.S., have smaller audiences and therefore do not share the high reputation of the domestic commercials. While most Canadians can access the major American networks in addition to their own, American stations are usually subject to simultaneous substitution, meaning the U.S. ads are essentially "blacked out" in Canada. However, with the recent advent of online video-sharing websites (such as YouTube), many of the most entertaining commercials are available over the Internet for people all around the world to watch.