For first time in 23 years, Pepsi ditches the Super Bowl. New milestone for advertising?

For the first time in more than two decades your wacky morning DJ won’t be discussing “that kick-ass new Pepsi Super Bowl commercial” the Monday after the big game.

Pepsi, which has blown an estimated $254 million on Super Bowl adds over the last 20 years, shocked the advertising world a few weeks back when it announced it would not be putting all its advertising eggs in the #1 television ratings basket. The cola giant has opted instead to throw its money in the online social media circle. Risky move?

Perhaps. Pundits have been anointing online social media as The New Frontier of Advertising for years, yet traditional advertising (while certainly on a decline) has stuck around, still managing to capture audiences. But the Super Bowl is a different animal. Upon being bombarded with commercials, massive amounts of viewers actually delight in debating, analyzing, and discussing the ads. When does this ever happen again throughout the course of the year? Honestly? Viewers never care this much about advertisements again. I know I don’t.

Pepsi might be doing something either extremely risky or extremely groundbreaking. Eschewing ads featuring Cindy Crawford or Britney Spears, the world’s #2 carbonated soft-drink maker is turning to crowdsourced philanthropy to reach consumers. Pepsi has launched a Web site called the Refresh Project, which serves as an online marketing campaign that polls readers on how the company should give away its grant money. Readers vote whether or not to give the grant money to an assortment of environment, health, culture, and education- related organizations.

Instead of spending its advertising on one night a year, Pepsi is hoping to attract millions of potential customers throughout the course of the year. In addition to launching this new Web site, Pepsi will be increasing its presence on Twitter and Facebook.

So, risky or groundbreaking? In my opinion, there’s not much to lose for Pepsi. This isn’t exactly Bob’s Auto Parts that is taking the leap here. Pepsi is a marketing powerhouse, capable of taking risks and having the ability to bounce back if the gambles fail. Sooner or later, most industry leaders dabble with online social media, and all of them still retain traditional advertising as a key part of their marketing mix.

So don’t be surprised to see Pepsi back for the big game next year.