Has The Recession Hit The Super Bowl?

NBC is still trying to sell eight slots of its $3M per 30 second ad space for the Super Bowl in 2009. Originally, NBC reported that it was selling ad space faster than usual—of course that was in September. Much has happened in the economy since then and it appears the $3M price tag is seeming a little steep for some companies this year. Regulars like FedEx, Garmin and GM are sitting this one out. It should be too much of a surprise given that GM may have difficulty getting congressional support for a bailout if it's very publicly dropping that kind of cash on ads. According to the AP, even with a few drop outs NBC says it's in negotiations with other companies to fill the spots.

I wonder if this will this affect the quality of the ads we see. Are companies also going to drop money on new stand-out ads? Or do you think we'll see more repeat ads and less originality this year?