• January 28, 2008

The National Football League itself is using the Super Bowl, or at least the printed program, to build and unify the NFL brand--and showcase its divisions.

The NFL has tapped Manhattan ad agency Fly Communications to develop a series of nine unified ads for the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl Program Books that highlight all nine divisions of the NFL, including NFL.com, Pro Bowl, NFL on Location, NFL Network, NFLRush.com, NFLatino.com, PLAY60 and NFL Charities.

The ads center on a series of "player cards" (like baseball cards) that depict an enthusiastic fan, as opposed to a player.

The print ads will appear in Super Bowl Programs on Sunday and Pro Bowl Programs on Feb. 11. The full ad buy is worth $2 million.

--Nina M. Lentini