Last year, worldwide licensing revenue from synchronization--a fancy term for pop music in ads--hit an all-time high at $2.5 billion. Indeed, the tangled relationship between music and TV advertising has evolved over the past decade.

It's worth taking a closer look at the issue of whether social media platforms are increasingly creating spaces where clients that once required massive media expenditures can now get exposure for free. The kind of exposure generated by campaigns like the Old Spice Guy only comes after a significant amount of old-fashioned media.

The Daily, begun with sky-high expectations when Apple’s iPad was being promoted as the savior of the publishing industry, has struggled to break into the national conversation or to drive news and build on its brand the way traditional outlets do.

Tabulating all of the commercials from the past 10 Super Bowls as archived by Adland -- counting the number of commercials each company bought as well as their length -- gives a list of the top-spending brands. Factoring in changes in marketshare, share price, and sales reveals which ones wasted their money.