On Super Bowl weekend, ESPN was able to sell its homepage with two massive rich-media Star Trek advertisements… you know, the new iMax move that comes out May 8th, 2009.

On a weekend when ESPN likely expects greater-than-normal traffic… and when television ad-spots are notoriously expensive… and in an economy where those Super Bowl ads *still* are not sold out… this campaign is both impressive for the publisher and questionable for the advertiser.

Even for Hollywood – advertising four months out on the web seems strange. Usually Hollywood advertises online to reinforce campaigns already airing on television, in theaters, and so forth. And usually the campaigns are more targeted and within a couple weeks from the movie’s release. For instance, the week leading up to Bride War’s release, PerezHilton.com was covered in full-page units.

That makes total sense. This, however, is completely bizarre.

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