No Eagles in Super Bowl, but there will be owls

Fear not. Super Bowl Sunday will, as always, be full of funny, heartwarming and, at times, head-scratching, commercials showcasing a host of national brands.

But in between the Budweiser Clydesdales, Kim Kardashian and, of course, some actual football, local viewers may also catch a regional advertisement for Temple University.

“This is one event where people actually take their break before the commercials come on because they don’t want to miss them,” said Karen Clarke, Temple’s vice president of strategic marketing. “That’s an opportunity that Temple just couldn’t pass up.”

The 30-second commercial will debut during the big game, but only to viewers in the tri-state area — about 2.4 million people.

That means the ad’s bottom line is nowhere near the roughly $4.5 million price tag for national spots.

“It’s a single-digit percentage,” said Clarke, adding that the ad is part of a larger buy that’ll air after the Super Bowl.  She estimates the Super Bowl ad cost Temple “tens of thousands of dollars.”

The slickly produced spot was created in-house and features shots of the North Philly campus, bubbling chemistry beakers and, of course, the Temple Owl mascot.

“We are Temple made and when others take shortcuts, when others take breaks, when others take the easy way, we take charge,” says a cocksure narrator over music.

Temple students – and the public – can vote for one of two endings leading through midnight Saturday.

It’s a competition between “Team Stella” and “Team Skyline.” The former ends with a shot of a live owl. The latter is pretty self-explanatory.

Kickoff in Glendale, Ariz. is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. This year’s matchup is between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks.