At $3 million, Super Bowl ad time is ... cheap?

But this year's Super Bowl was not a good enough deal for GM and FedEx. Those two Super Bowl regulars cited the fumbling economy in their decisions to pull out of the game, although the automaker will have spots before and after the game.

“Those are tactical decisions and isolated events,” said Dean DeBiase, GEO of Media Intelligence, a research firm that looks at viewer behavior. “I think NBC is going to do a great job of monetizing this — just like they did with the Olympics.”

“The Super Bowl is still the premier platform for an ad campaign,” he said. Arguably it is the best event to launch a new campaign, he said. Starting in the Super Bowl creates a “halo effect” around the pitch.

“They use the (Super Bowl) ad as an anchor component. It’s not about the ad, it’s about the campaign,” DeBiase said.

Denny’s made its decision to get in the game last week. It was a combination of wanting to launch a big promotion and the possibility of NBC willing to deal.

“Really, it was the perfect storm,” said Mark Chmiel, the chain’s chief innovation and marketing officer. “We have been looking to become more aggressive in our promotions. Secondly, we felt there was a softness in the (ad) marketplace. We were looking for the broadest-based platform out there. And this is it.”

The company saved money by buying its 30-second spot in the third quarter. That time “delivers a very good audience, but the price is one of the lowest,” he said.

As with many Super Bowl advertisers, Denny’s isn’t sharing details about its spot with the public in advance. Suffice it to say, it will spend 25 or so seconds poking fun at competitors that offer “sweet, fluffy breakfasts” instead of Denny's more stick-to-your-ribs Grand Slam. Then there will be an offer for viewers.

DreamWorks is partnering with Intel and Sobe Lifewater for its spot. Intel is creating the 3-D glasses, and the lizards from last year’s Sobe ad — they danced with Naomi Campbell to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” — will appear in the “Monsters” spot.

That ad will air near the end of the second quarter.

“It’s just an event where you can reach so many people,” DreamWorks publicist David Hail said.

The glasses are available now at retailers in Pepsi displays and are “a big step up from those old red-blue glasses everyone is accustomed to," Hail said.

And as for companies that will be sitting this year out?

“They’ll be back, no question,” said Calkins, the marketing professor. “They have to.”

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