In Response to Chad Brown's "Best Superbowl Commercials"

Chad asked the question, If you were the CEO of a company that had the money for an ad spot for the Superbowl, would you do it? When I first read Chad's blog and considered his question I automatically thought to myself, sure why not? But then I considered some companies that chose not to advertise and considered there reasons for not participating. The first reason which is seems most obvious is the price you must pay for an ad spot. This price can be anywhere from 2.5 to 3 million for just 30 seconds. I then also considered some other reasons. When I did this I looked into Pepsi who for the first time in 23 consecutive Superbowls did not advertise during the Superbowl. Pepsi's reasoning for not participating is because they feel as if the mass market media is no longer the sole vehicle to reach an audience. Pepsi is instead saving this money and giving it away in forms of grants in six project categories. These categories include: health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education. Pepsi is also allowing access to their website directly and through popular sites like Facebook and Twitter to allow fans to make recommendations on other projects they find fitting for grants.
After reading this article I changed my opinion as to if I would advertise during the Superbowl. I think Pepsi is a well known company and unless they are trying to advertise a new product, there is no need to market old products for such a large amount of money. Considering this if I were a CEO and had the money depending on my company I may choose to sit the Superbowl out. I think appearing more socially responsible and helping out the public will be for more beneficial to Pepsi than a 30 second Superbowl ad that markets products the public already is familiar with.

Do you think Pepsi's socially responsible approach will prove to hurt them? Or do you think Pepsi's approach will start a trend and companies will choose not to advertise but instead put their money to better use?