Regardless of who wins Super Bowl XLI, 2007 will be remembered as the year big brands let users create their Super Bowl ads. We review the participants and potential pitfalls.

Check out the rest of our Super Bowl Predictions Special Issue!

As always, the commercials due to be aired during February's Super Bowl seem to be generating almost as much discussion as the game itself.

First, there is the perennial question, "It is worth spending $2.6 million dollars on a 30-second TV spot, even if the audience is comprised of about 90 million viewers?"

And, each year, a legion of advertising experts share their opinions: "Yes", "No" and "Maybe".

This year we'll be seeing spots from many of the usual suspects, like Anheuser-Bush, Pepsico, Coca-Cola and General Motors. Plus commercials from some smaller companies like Garmin (GPS navigation systems), Salesgenie.com (leads generation) and GoDaddy.com (web registrar).

But if the buzz is a little different this year, then it is because several companies have been creating additional exposure for themselves by inviting the public to create and submit their own TV spots.

Frito-Lay, Chevrolet, Alka-Seltzer and the National Football League have all invited consumers to create TV spots to debut during the big game.

A bigger gamble still: asking consumers to create your $2.6 million Super Bowl buy.
Frito-Lay (owned by Pepsico) sponsored a contest for consumers to create commercials for Doritos chips.

They have already picked five finalists from a total of over 1,000 submissions.

What's more, according to the company, the winning spot will run exactly as the winner made it.

You can see all five commercials at CrashtheSuperBowl.com.

So what's the upside here?

First, Frito-Lay will be saving six or seven figures on the actual production cost of the spot. Pity the poor advertising agency that's out in the cold on this one.

Second, the production of a thousand plus videos will have generated a huge amount of buzz about Doritos online and offline.

Third, the process of viewing and voting for the videos must have generated millions of page views.

Fourth, the videos have inevitably found their way onto YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo! Video and countless other video sites.

Five, the buzz spins out further and further. Check out the blog of the creators of one the final five spots, Checkout Girl.

And so on.

Essentially Frito-Lay has tapped into two of the biggest attention grabbers online right now...amateur video and social networks.

What is the big gamble here?
Well here's a big question for Frito-Lay.

Can an amateur TV commercial be as effective at building your brand and generating sales as a professionally created and produced commercial?

If the answer is yes, then 2007 will be the year in which ad agency and production house executives will be scratching their heads and wondering about the future.

If the answer is no, then will the buzz created by the amateur spots compensate sufficiently for the reduced branding impact of the commercial itself?

This is a complex question, and may prove impossible to answer. At least, in the short term.

But one thing is certain. By creating this contest Frito-Lay has hugely expanding the life of their 30-second buy.

In addition to the usual chatter in the media about Super Bowl ads, the contest has generated interest and focused attention on Doritos for months before the Super Bowl, and probably for months afterwards.

Consumer-generated advertising: a gimmick or the way of the future?
There is a larger question here, which reaches deep into the heart both of the marketing industry and the future of the web.

What happens if the winning Doritos video is deemed to be more effective than a professionally produced commercial?

What if the spots themselves and the accompanying online buzz, do more for Frito-Lay, Chevrolet, Alka-Seltzer and the national Football League than a traditional TV commercial buy ever could?

If that proves to be the case, and it's a big if, then coming up with these contests as a neat way to generate additional buzz online could prove to be just the first step in a long journey.

Many experts online have been making the point that consumers are more in control of their buying decisions than ever before.

Price comparison sites, review sites, social networks and intense competition between online retailers have already passed an enormous amount of choice into the hands of consumers.

Consumers are no longer isolated, one family per TV set, or as susceptible to brand-style advertising.

By all means advertise your Chevrolet with traditional print and TV buys. However, don't think for a moment that your prospects won't jump online, compare features, prices and offers from other manufacturers, and also listen to the views of other people just like them.

And what if, this year, it is found that enabling your customers to create advertising for your products proves more effective, and cost effective, than going through the traditional channels?

If it works, just how far are you prepared to go to put your marketing plans into the hands of your consumers?

One final twist.
This year's Super Bowl is not only seeing companies reaching out to the public for the creation of their commercials, but it also is the first time a member of the public has reached out to big advertisers to get a very personal message of his own aired in front of 90 million viewers.

An anonymous young man is hoping to propose to his girlfriend during one of the Super Bowl ads. You can follow his efforts at MySuperProposal.com.

His blog has generated a huge amount of interest, and one can only hope that he really is who he says he is, and that this doesn't prove to be a repeat of the LonelyGirl15 scam.

Tapping into the creativity of networked individuals to create your commercial is a smart thing to do.

Trying to fool millions of connected football fans online is not.

Nick Usborne is a leading authority on the subject of writing for the web.