Economic meltdown won’t stop Super Bowl ad blitz

? PepsiCo, traditionally one of the top spenders on Super Bowl ads, plans to keep spending in this year of economic malaise.

Executives unveiled a 3-D commercial for its SoBe Life Water on Tuesday that will air at halftime, and other Super Bowl spots are planned for Pepsi, Gatorade and PepsiMax.

PepsiCo’s total spending is undecided for Sunday’s Super Bowl XLIII, a contest between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers to be played in Tampa, Fla.

“We might add some more time,” PepsiCo Americas Beverages chief Massimo D’Amore told The Associated Press on Tuesday, with five days to go before the game.

NBC has said 90 percent of the Super Bowl ads were sold as of mid-January. Most ads have sold for about $3 million per 30-second spot — an all-time high price for the Super Bowl. The yearly matchup is the most watched event in the nation, with about 100 million U.S. viewers.

PepsiCo Inc. was the event’s top advertiser last year, according to estimates by TNS Media, and most likely will again be in the top three.

The yearly Super Bowl ads coincide with a new marketing campaign from the Purchase, N.Y.-based maker of snacks and drinks. And it comes a week after PepsiCo’s bigger rival, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co., announced a new global marketing campaign. The dueling ad campaigns use words like “happiness” and “optimism” to appeal to consumers besieged by financial trouble.