Watching the Super Bowl is not just about watching your favorite player, team, or performance. It's also about watching the commercials. Pepsi has announced that its 23-year-long Super Bowl commercial career is coming to an end. The soda company said it will use its money for a new marketing effort that’s mostly online. Pepsi has had the best commercials, but unfortunately we won’t get the chance to see another of those classic commercials after 2010.

The average 30-second super bowl commercial costs $3 million dollars. Pepsi was one the biggest advertisers in this year’s Super Bowl and has been since 1987.

“Pepsi had been a major advertiser during the Super Bowl. According to TNS, the company spent $142.8 million on the 10 Super Bowl ads from 1999 to 2008, second only to Anheuser-Busch, which spent $216 million. The brewer of Bud Light confirmed Thursday it will have 5 minutes worth of advertising in the 2010 Super Bowl.”

(via ESPN)

The company has decided to dedicate its time to a new project, the“Pepsi Refresh Project.” This project will pay $20 million to programs created by the people to “refresh” communities. Pepsi will have a website—that is expected to go live on Jan 13—where people can post projects like teaching children how to read, or how to organize a group to collect and deliver food. Users can then vote for the project that deserves funding. It looks like Pepsi is trying to give back to the community with its new project.

Will this new project be as succesful as their commercials? I don't know. One thing is clear; Pepsi stepping down leaves room for their rivals, Coca Cola--who has spent in the last decade $30 million dollars on Super Bowl ads—to come out stronger than ever.

Check out this video of top ten Super Bowl Ads of 2008—in which Pepsi came in at number 1 and 3.

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