For many people, the advertisements we’ll see tonight are half the fun of the big game. Companies spend big bucks for just moments in the spotlight afforded by the Super Bowl. Hoping to reach as many potential customers as possible, large companies pay millions of dollars ($2.4 million, a new record to be exact) for 30 seconds on T.V. and hire the top advertising agencies to develop catchy concepts that will bring them new business and keep viewers talking until big game XLII.

While we may think we’re just spectators, tonight’s game could have an impact on our finances as well. Whether we spend money on one of the many football pools revolving around tonight’s game hoping to win big, or succumb to the pressure to spend money on something we don’t need as a result of tonight’s advertisements, the big game is likely to cause us to make some financial decisions based on our emotions rather than logic.

We’ve discussed the issue of emotional investing/spending in the past, and it seems that our actions around the big game are comparable to our spending during the holiday season and how we choose our first stocks when we enter the stock market. While normally we’d make thoughtful and rational decisions, we resort to investing compulsively and based on our emotions. So whether your team wins or loses (or didn’t make the big game at all) I hope you enjoy tonight’s game and use it as a chance to see how you manage your finances in light of the big business and high stakes going on all around you.