The Super Bowl ad lineup includes a roster of national spots – those are the ones that cost $3.5 million each – but it also includes lower-priced ads aired in various regional and local markets. I don’t normally report on local ad buys here on the SpotBowl blog, but a spot airing in Chicago is cool enough to warrant a mention.

The ad (above) comes from FirstBank and instead of pulling out all the stops to capture viewers’ attention, it asks viewers to use the ad time to take a bathroom visit or refill a drink. As reported on BusinessInsider.com, the FirstBank spot proves its seriousness by featuring the FirstBank pitchman “sitting in an armchair, doing mostly nothing.”

As observed by USA Today and multiple other sources, this year’s crop of Super Bowl ads are slightly more mature and risqué that in year’s past. It’s been said, of course, that “sex sells,” but does it really? A recent Wall Street Cheat Sheet article offers an interesting look inside the myth.

According to the article, researchers at the University of Wisconsin (Eau Claire) studies Super Bowl ads from the past 20 years and found that “sexy ads” score 10 percent lower in the “likeability” category compared to more conservative ads.

I’m not sure if that really debunks the “sex sells” myth. After all, the racier ads might be less liked by the masses, but they could end up selling a lot more product among those who prefer a more mature approach. Regardless, it’s definitely something advertisers should consider.

Perhaps GoDaddy should test one of its typical frat boy spots against one featuring puppies and kittens and see which one sells more domain name registrations. Actually, forget it. I think we already know the answer to that one.

The Examiner has confirmed that Pepsi’s upcoming Super Bowl ad, which will feature X Factor winner Melanie Amaro and Elton John. The Examiner also claims rapper and reality TV star Flavor Flav will make an appearance, but a recent Pepsi announcement fails to mention Flav.

According to a Pepsi press release:

“The new ad titled “King’s Court” features Melanie Amaro, THE X FACTOR 2011 winner, singing (her version of Aretha Franklin’s hit “RESPECT”) for multi Grammy-winning music legend Sir Elton John who plays a “king of rock” in the commercial.”

Days after we learned that its first spot would star Elton John and X Factor winner Melanie Amaro (see behind-the-scenes video here), Pepsi Max released its second Super Bowl spot, this one featuring retired daytime talk king, Regis Philbin.

The 45-second spot, which will be trimmed to 30 seconds for the big game, continues the “Coke guy who loves Pepsi” theme from the company’s ongoing Pepsi Max campaign. It also features that lady who used to be on some show in the role of a perky cashier, a performance sure to be overshadowed by Mr. Philbin’s four-second appearance. (Seriously, if anyone can tell me who she is, I’d appreciate it.)

Adweek made an interesting point. The public can follow the Coke bears, who will be watching and reacting to the game and ads on their fancy new website. What will be the bears’ reaction to Pepsi’s ads? I predict one of them will go ape shit and eat an Eskimo. That’s just my guess.

Honda may have Ferris Bueller, but Acura trumped the Sausage King of Chicago with not one but two A-list celebrities in their upcoming Super Bowl ad.

Jerry Seinfeld stars in the spot, which was released in an extended-length version of nearly two minutes. As if that’s not enough, the Soup Nazi makes an appearance that’s sure to have half of America shouting “Soup Nazi!” when he appears on Sunday. And as if that’s not enough, the spot is for the new Acura NSX. Oh, yeah, Jerry Seinfeld just got shown up by a car.

As for the second big name celebrity cameo, it appears at the end, and I won’t spoil it for you. Check out the spot below and prepare to be entertained, especially by the nice, shiny thing in the center of the screen during the first five seconds.