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The most prized placement in television, advertising for the country’s largest sporting event has hit record numbers this year.

Watching the Super Bowl can be a game of hit or miss. With all the hoopla and anticipation, a first quarter blow-out leaves a lot of nachos and beer for a lackluster performance. But should the game itself fall short, the commercials usually pick up the slack. Advertisers view the country’s most televised sporting event as a gold mine for the perfect kind of product placement, and this year they’re willing to pay record prices to guarantee the right slot, reports The New York Times NFL blog, The Fifth Down.  

By Thanksgiving, NBC had already filled all of the 30-second slots for the February 5 game in Indianapolis. The ads brought in a record average of $3.5 million apiece, up from the $3 million Fox earned during last year’s broadcast. “We have shattered any recent revenue stories in regards to the Super Bowl,” Seth Winter, senior vice president of sales and marketing with the NBC Sports Group, told USA Today.

Compared to previous Super Bowls, many of this year’s commercials are going beyond the short and sweet. "One of the things you'll see this year is an incredibly great amount of longer-form commercials," Winter told Advertising Age. "You're going to see the art form of storytelling take on a greater role in the Super Bowl."

Apple’s “1984” ad, a dystopian, 60-second spot that landed the first Macintosh computer in the limelight, is still one of the Super Bowl’s most memorable. According to USA Today, this year's notables will include a 60-second spot for VW's new Beetle; a Bridgestone ad with cameos from NFL veterans Troy Aikman and Deion Sanders; and a sexy mix of race car driver Danica Patrick, health guru Jillian Michaels, and the pop group Pussycat Dolls in two ads for GoDaddy.com. Super Bowl 46 is set to bring on a brave new world of advertising extravaganza.