A BROADCAST BATTLE IS BREWING; FROM BEER TO SHOES, ADVERTISERS ARE PREPARING FOR THEIR OWN SUPREME SUPER BOWL SHOWDOWN.

Byline: Mike Bruton The Philadelphia Inquirer 

The art and hyperbole of Super Bowl advertising - which last year gave us such cultural icons as the Pepsi Bears and Miller Lite's Dick the Creative Genius - leave some sponsors breathlessly eager to plug their new TV campaigns, and others reluctant even to answer the phone.

Budweiser and Nike are talking. Coke is quiet, Miller almost so.

``We look at it for what it is,'' Anheuser Busch marketing executive Bob Lachey said Monday. ``It's high entertainment. It's the largest television audience in the world, so you have to put your best foot forward.''

The best foot this time goes for $1.3 million per 30-second spot for an expected 800 million viewers worldwide. Sunday's ad wars will run from lengthy pregame shows through the postgame.

``We want to keep our game plan under wraps until Sunday,'' said Coca-Cola executive Bob Bertini, ``so we're really not going to be talking about what we're planning to do.''

Bertini, under questioners' withering pressure, did say there would be two 30-second spots, one before the game and one during it.

``Beyond that,'' he said, ``we want the element of surprise.''

Busch has had exclusive rights to Super Bowl beer ads for nearly a decade, leaving competitor Miller Brewing Co. only the pregame and the postgame.

With that advantage, Lachey didn't mind talking about Busch's eight 30-second Budweiser and Bud Light spots.

``We are continuing the `Louie the Lizard' saga,'' he said. ``It's been great.''

The popular Bud spots featuring lizards Louie and Frank were spun off from those Budweiser frogs who croaked ``Bud . . . wise . . . er.'' The mean-spirited and bitter Louie apparently became a hit practically by accident.

``We never really know when we start these ideas that they're going to have the right kind of momentum,'' Lachey said, adding that the lizards caught on five months ago, long after the frogs were introduced. ``Sometimes we hit a homer. Sometimes we don't, but this one's a real home run.''

During the playoffs Louie's anger escalated, despite efforts from the even-tempered Frank to persuade him to chill out. Louie has been yelling not-so-veiled threats across the swamp at the frogs.

``There's a huge amount of anticipation from our target audience about what's going to happen next,'' Lachey said, referring to young males. ``What you will see Super Sunday is basically the Showdown in the Swamp.

``Louie is going to do some nasty things to the frogs by enlisting the aid of other swamp creatures.''

That will be covered in three 30-second spots. The fourth will be a continuation of the ``Heritage Campaign'' in which Busch CEO August Busch III talks more about the art of brewing.

In the second half, Bud Light spots will feature a young man recently married, the issue of how guys ease the pain while their wives or girlfriends are shopping, and middleweight champion Oscar De La Hoya on responsible drinking.

Milwaukee-based Miller will counter with three 60-second and two 30-second spots in the pregame. But, said Miller advertising manager Gina Shaffer, ``I can't tell you much about them.''

Shaffer did allow that, ``They're a good-enough reason to tune in to the pregame show.''

``There's not a theme to all of them,'' she added. ``They all have separate identities. The (60-second spots) were shot out of the country. There's one commercial that's for all beer drinkers, but particularly for Latino beer drinkers. One of them involves a robot.''

Nike, always talkative and always close to the edge of the envelope, will air a 60-second spot during the game, then follow it with five 30-second spots during March's NCAA basketball tournament.

``The ad that's running during the Super Bowl is the first-ever national television ad for (Nike) apparel,'' said executive Bob Mitchell.

Nike usually makes image spots or pushes footwear. This time, clothing - and the lack of it - is the point.

``The athletes appearing in the ads are unclad,'' Mitchell said. ``The idea is to show how Nike products protect athletes. It shows the ability of the product to enhance the athletes' performance.''

The campaign is called ``The Evolution of Skin.'' Appearing in either the one-minute or 30-second spots, or both, will be Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson, San Antonio Spurs center David Robinson, Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo, American 1,000-meter record-holder Suzy Hamilton and WNBA star Lisa Leslie.

``We're trying to get our apparel message out,'' Mitchell said. ``We chose the Super Bowl for obvious reasons.''

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PHOTO The Super Bowl is not just about football anymore, it's also about the television ads. Expect to see Drew Carey pitching cellular phones along with ads for beer, soft drinks and shoes.