These brands have better uses for money than a Super Bowl ad

Stella Artois has big plans to promote itself during the Super Bowl.

None of them involve a commercial.

Instead of spending up to $5.6 million on a 30-second spot, the beer brand is sponsoring a three-day event in Miami, the host city of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers.

The decision to skip what is typically the most-watched broadcast of the year seems counterintuitive. During last year’s NFL championship, Stella Artois aired a commercial starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Jeff Bridges that was credited with pulling the brand out of a slump.

The move seems even more unorthodox when you consider that many of Anheuser-Busch’s other major brands will advertise during the game Sunday. But Peter Van Overstraeten, a vice president at the company, said it was smart to sit this one out.

“It’s a matter of balancing and making sure our efforts are not lost in the big sea of messaging that’s going on,” he said.

The gathering, called Port de Stella, started Thursday. It features a performance by musical duo Sofi Tukker, appearances from celebrities like actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas and pop-up restaurants catered by chefs like Rosio Sanchez. Visitors can skip causeway traffic by taking yachts emblazoned with the Stella Artois logo from South Beach to the event’s downtown Miami location.

In addition to its status as secular national holiday, Super Bowl Sunday is an advertising bonanza, a day when commercials are not only tolerated, but sought out. TiVo, the digital video recorder that allows viewers to bypass ads, will revive an option that skips over the football and goes straight to the promotional spots.

But limited space and rising prices, as well as a growing preference for other forms of advertising, mean that many companies...