The NFL and CBS clearly weren't thrilled with the Super Bowl's partial stadium blackout. But marketers at Subway and Anheuser-Busch may have been high-fiving. The turmoil looks to have given them free spots in the most expensive TV property out there. It was just one of the interesting aspects of the advertising in the Super Bowl, where there was plenty worth discussing. How about Gildan and Jeep offering winning ads and Calvin Klein failing horribly?

Networks and by extension their affiliates might be mad enough at Dish Network to refuse any of its ads, not just the ones backing its Hopper DVR functionality that automatically skips commercials. So, with that as a backdrop, it's worth questioning their wisdom in accepting any ads at all that plug DVRs - any from DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, etc.

In the full Super Bowl advertising ecosystem, there may be just one bargain: dogs. They work cheap and they apparently just plain work.

After all the barbs tossed back and forth, the combatants actually were scheduled to meet this week and try to work through their differences. Several hours in a conference room and there could have been a path to peace. Didn't happen. Not surprisingly, the battling between networks and Dish over the AutoHop ad-zapping feature will continue. The tone of any settlement discussions might be impacted by how successful Dish is at marketing the commercial skipping.

How fortunate the NFL is. There is no more popular entertainment entity and the league is set to get even wealthier with DirecTV likely to pay it another fortune to continue offering "Sunday Ticket." So, even with all the reports about head trauma former players are suffering and all the concussions current quarterbacks are enduring, there is no credible threat to interest in the league diminishing. But the game is becoming harder to watch, which can put fans in a tough spot.

For a brief moment any image of a cocky, carefree Madison Avenue creative executive is shattered in a newly released USA Today video. Asked about the weight on his shoulders to make a Super Bowl commercial a crackerjack one, Mark Hunter goes introspective and betrays stress. "It's a pressure-cooker," the chief creative officer of Deutsch L.A. says.

With the prospect of another U.S. senate campaign in Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick was blunt: "I'm fatigued." How much more torture can Massachusetts residents take? Sometime mid-year, the Red Sox will again be in last place and the airwaves could be filled with another nauseating onslaught of negative political ads. Which is worse? That's a close one.

Just about every rabid sports fan watches the Super Bowl, so it would seem logical that the giant marketers targeting them would welcome an all-at-once platform. But, for the most part, they seem to believe their resources could be better applied.

With all the advancement in the media business, maybe it's time for some industry argot that looks backward. More refined language might be in store such as rebranding a negotiation a colloquy.

The New England Patriots let every American who doesn't pull for them down Sunday. As soon as the San Francisco 49ers earned a berth in the Super Bowl, it became imperative that the Patriots beat Baltimore to earn the second spot.