Anheuser-Busch Is Getting The Headlines For Its $18 Million Super Bowl Spend, But The Real Story Is Who Is Not Showing Up To The Party – Procter & Gamble -- And It’s Also Giving The Oscars Telecast A Pass, Too. Spot A Trend?

That Anheuser Busch is spending around $18 million for its nine Super Bowl Spots is getting all the buzz, but what is really more important to the advertising and TV industry is how Procter and Gamble has bowed out of this year’s game, and it is also bypassing the Oscars telecast. Could it be that P&G is losing faith in the value of the 30-second ad and is really enamored by digital?

Not that that should be any big surprise. Last year A.G. Lafley, Chairman and CEO of Procter & Gamble, a company that spent $6.8 billion on global advertising in its 2006 fiscal year, warned the media he wanted to find better ways to gauge whether he’s getting value for his advertising spend. “What’s important to us is to be able to measure it,” he told Fortune Magazine.

In 2005 P&G spent $4.6 billion on US ads, but less than 1% --some $33.5 million – went online. It’s a good bet the online spend increased during 2006 because if Lafley wants real measurement then digital is where he will find it. And giving up its spots on prestigious programming can only mean the company is no longer convinced those spots give it value for money, or conversely, there are places the money can go that give better value for money.

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It’s not that CBS hasn’t found replacements for P&G and it will be sold out on Sunday, and it didn’t take ABC long to find Unilever to fill P&G’s shoes for the Oscars telecast, but it is the message that Lafley is sending the industry that really matters. After all, if 30-second ads on such prestigious programming aren’t the right thing for the country’s largest advertiser, then others might start wondering whether there are better uses for their money, too.

The Super Bowl is considered, in advertising terms, a “guy” event although statistics show the audience is pretty much split between men and women, so last year P&G introduced its Gillette Fusion razor during the game. The ad itself did not get very good reviews but a year has passed and according to P&G Treasurer John Goodwin the Fusion razor has done very well. Sales amounted to around $400 million and it has captured 51% of the US men’s razor market.

The Oscars are considered to be a ladies event and last year P&G used it to promote its Olay brand. But this year the company is bypassing the telecast but it is promoting the Olay brand on Oscar.com, an ABC site dedicated to the awards show.

Susan Arnold, P&G vice chairman for beauty and health, said the company is moving very quickly into what it calls a “media neutral” approach, that looks at how each possible media platform can serve the brand in deciding where the money goes. And she admits that two-way interaction with consumers is now a major part of the branding process – again something that digital does very well.

That’s probably why P &G has been active in reaching into the web’s social network space. It launched an Internet site the day after the People’s Choice television awards show, giving audiences their chance to give opinions (the interaction Arnold was talking about) on everything from a Hollywood makeover to music releases. Fans could connect with other fans, even celebrities.

And in its first entry into consumer-created content the company launched its Capessa site, an online community where women can share inspirational stories as well as provide to others practical tips and information relevant to their lives. It is being more subtle here, no overt P&G advertising, but the company said it expects to use Capessa as a way to better understand how it can use the digital world to be relevant to its consumers. Content is generated by women for women via chat, blogs, individual postings and video. Last year P&G set up two mySpace pages to promote Crest toothpaste and its Herbal Essence shampoo.

Revlon is filling P&G’s Super Bowl shoes with an unusual pitch – one aimed at women. It figures since the Super Bowl has historically been used to pitch products to men, yet there are about as many women actually watching, then why not pitch a product at the women? It has bought a 60 second spot to promote the launch of Colorist, its new hair-coloring product. Revlon has not done well with product launches recently and the bold move to advertise directly to females during the Super Bowl will have the industry following its success or failure with great interest.

But to Anheuser-Busch, the largest US beer brewer with about half of the US market, direct-in-your-face television advertising is what it sees as its best way to get its message across, although it is using mobile technology including SMS messaging as part of its Super Bowl campaign. In buying nine spots for around $18 million – the company says it got a discount over the list price of $2.6 million per spot – it is directly aiming at 90 million Americans, many of them probably drinking beer as they watch, with the message they should be drinking Bud, and not some imports, nor wine nor the hard stuff.

Bob Lachky, Anheuser-Busch chief creative officer, told Brandweek, “The power of the Super Bowl has never been stronger. The Super Bowl is truly an anomaly. In an era of fragmentation and declining ratings of traditional television, this is still the powerhouse media vehicle of all time and will continue to be as long as America is sports crazy.”

The Super Bowl is recognized as the one TV event where people actually do want to watch the commercials. They are especially prepared for the occasion and they are a prime topic of conversation at the office water cooler the next day. With a broadcast cost of some $2.6 million for 30 seconds plus around $1 million in production costs, some of the brightest ad brains in the land are going to make sure that every $120,000 second counts.

But P&G is sending out its own message to television, and it is one the industry should be discussing at that water-cooler, too.