• USA Today, Wednesday, January 10, 2007 11:30 AM

A Buffalo Bills fan's idea for an ad promoting the National Football League will air during the Super Bowl. Gino Bona was one of 1,700 people who auditioned concepts at stadiums this fall, and his idea was the winner.

A director of business development for a Portland, Maine, marketing firm, Bona says he used his own "pathetic emotions" to come up with the idea for a tongue-in-cheek take on the sadness fans feel when the season ends. "I think NFL fans are like me," says Bona. "We get depressed when we think about what Sundays are going to be like for the next six months."

His ideas for images include a foam No. 1 finger being put way; a New England Patriots' fan washing off his face paint; and a group of game-watchers getting their season-long bar bill for $6,000. And he proposed the Boyz II Men song "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" as the soundtrack. Commercial director Joe Pytka will now turn Bona' s idea into a finished spot.

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