The USC School of Journalism and Mass Communications is opening its annual Super Bowl advertising rating to all would-be "ad refs."

Each year, students in professor Bonnie Drewniany's Super Bowl Advertising class gather for the game at Newsplex, the USC/Ifra converged newsroom, as they will this year on the evening of Feb. 5.

During the game they rate each ad in three categories: most persuasive, strongest brand identity, and overall favorite. The creators of the winning ad are then invited to USC to receive the coveted Cocky Award.

This year, Drewniany has developed a rating system on the school's Web site. At the end of the game, viewers can go to www.jour.sc.edu/superbowl/index.html and cast their votes. The site will be available for voting for one hour after the game. Web results will be combined with those of the students to determine the winning commercial.

Creators of the 2006 winning advertisement will receive the Cocky Award during the College of Mass Communications and Information Studies' I-Comm Week April 3-8. The results of the 2006 Ad Bowl will be posted at www.jour.sc.edu/news/newsann/06superbowl/index.html.

For more information about the Ad Bowl and to see how USC students and faculty have voted in the past, go to www.jour.sc.edu/news/isite/05superbowl.html.

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