"Super Bowl" TV deals not so super? Try "The Big Game"

If you've been trolling the Web and browsing through retail circulars looking for an amazing "Super Bowl" deal on an HDTV only to find the pickings slimmer than Nicole Richie after a three-day fast, we have another suggestion: Try substituting the term "The Big Game" for "The Super Bowl" in your search engine. Get a bit more action? That's because retail ads and promotions can't legally use the phrases "Super Bowl" — or even "Super Sunday" — unless the companies have paid big bucks (really big bucks) to the NFL, which owns the trademarks to the two terms. (Fortunately, exceptions are made for news organizations like Consumer Reports, or this article would have a different headline.)

It isn't surprising that the NFL vigorously tracks down violations: Organizations that don't aggressively act to protect their trademarks can lose them (just ask the makers of aspirin, escalators, or yo-yos, all trademarks that became generics due to common usage). As a result, TV retailers have to be very creative about advertising Super Bowl specials without using the words "Super" and "Bowl" together in the same sentence. That's why over the next few days you'll see numerous ads announcing "super" sales in time for "The Big Game," or perhaps even "The Mash-Up in Miami," but surprisingly very few that tout "Super Bowl" specials.

For the past several years, however, there's been an interesting wrinkle: Samsung, a major supplier of high-def TVs, has paid the NFL for the right to be called "the official HDTV of the NFL." As such, Samsung can use the term "Super Bowl," as well as the Super Bowl XLIV and NFL logos, in its advertising and commercials.  And that has given retailers that carry Samsung TVs some creative leeway. For example, as we began tracking Super Bowl-related HDTV promotions, we noticed that several major retailers were using the term "Super Bowl" and the Super Bowl XLIV logo in Sunday circular ads, despite the NFL's restrictive trademark policy.

Sure enough, closer inspection revealed that all references to the Super Bowl were on ad pages that featured Samsung TVs. Best Buy, for example, leverages the Samsung-NFL connection prominently, festooning its circular's front page — featuring big-screen Samsung LCD HDTVs — with large Super Bowl XLIV and NFL logos, a tactic one wag inside the company called "Super Bowl advertising by Samsung proxy." On those pages without Samsung TVs, the retailer says to "tune in before kickoff" with great TV values. The slogan, "Big games, big plays, big screens," and a  "Ultimate Football Experience" logo—along with Brett Favre—beckon on Sears' Web site and local circulars.

But regional retailer H.H. Gregg may be pushing up against the NFL's Super Bowl advertising restrictions the hardest this year, with both its Web site and local circulars sporting a very Super-Bowl-looking logo, complete with the words "Super" and XLIV Roman numerals. I guess some retailers figure "Big Game" promotions call for some big-time gambles, and not just on the outcome of the game.

—James K. Willcox