Just over two decades after leading William "The Refrigerator" Perry and his team to glory, nobody bats an eyelid at Ditka waxing lyrical about the merits of toilet paper because, more than any other game, this one is all about the hard sell. Over the course of its 41 years, the culmination of every grid-iron season has morphed into a curious amalgam of marketing, sports and commerce. Billy Joel will sing the national anthem, Prince will provide the halftime entertainment, advertisers will pay $2.6m for 30-second commercials, and somewhere in between, a match will take place.

Prince may be hoping his sales increase 142 per cent as U2's did after 2002.

The social events surrounding the extravaganza rather than the game itself literally bring the nation to a halt for four and a half drawn-out hours every February. The Super Bowl will be watched at some stage by around 140 million Americans, near enough twice as many people as voted in last November's Congressional elections. One in five tune in just for the commercials (Jay-Z and Kevin Federline are among this year's star endorsers) and the vast majority know little and care less about the nuances of the sport. They are just along for the ride, participating in what has become such a festival of food, drink and excess that a campaign has even been launched to have the Monday after the game declared an annual holiday.

"Super Bowl Sunday is not just an ordinary day in America, " goes the manifesto of SuperBowlMonday. com.

"It has gained a significance that transcends the game itself. It is a shared, nationwide event, organised around a single stage at a single time. We are petitioning for the Super Bowl to take its next step into American History: A National Holiday. For Super Bowl Sunday, we make special plans with family and friends much the same as we do for Thanksgiving, New Years, Christmas, and the Fourth of July.

"It has the celebration of New Years, explosiveness of the Fourth of July, the packaging of Christmas and the feast of Thanksgiving. SuperBowlMonday. com is petitioning our state and federal governments to make Super Bowl Sunday a new National Holiday, with observation on Monday following the big game."

The culture of consumption is so endemic that last week the government actually reminded people about the need for hygiene when preparing food and beseeched them to think about nutrition. To spend time in a supermarket in the hours before kick-off is to glimpse what life may be like if the order ever comes to head to the bunkers. People dash along crowded aisles, filling trolleys with super-sized bags of crisps and vats of dip as if forewarned about a pending apocalypse.

Given America's love for all things statistical, we know that 11.3 million lbs of crisps and 53.3 million lbs of guacamole are devoured between kick-off and the presentation of the Vince Lombardi trophy. That food is chowed down while sitting in front of 2.5 million new televisions purchased specially for the occasion. By the time the action ends, every single citizen will have spent almost $50 on Super Bowl-related purchases. Of course, the worst part is that there's a spike in drink-driving and in domestic violence incidents immediately after the cheering has stopped.

To some degree, the partying is taken so seriously because most people have very little chance of ever seeing the game in person. The cheapest ticket into Dolphin Stadium tonight will set you back $700 and hardcore fans complain they are impossible to source due to corporations hoovering them up.

Each player on the winning team trousers a bonus of $70,000, receives a commemorative ring worth $5,000, and the man of the match picks up the traditional prize of a trip to Disney World.

Last Friday evening, US Secretary of State and NFL devotee Dr Condoleezza Rice took time out from dealing with the civil war in Iraq to offer her pregame analysis on ESPN's Sportscentre.

Strange as that may seem, perhaps nothing sums up the bizarre nature of American sport more than the betting.

In the casinos of Nevada, around $100m will be legally wagered on whether the Colts' Tony Dungy or the Bears' Lovie Smith will be the first black coach to win the Super Bowl. By contrast, backstreet bookies will take in an estimated $8bn in illegal bets this weekend.

The legitimate Vegas houses have the Colts as favourites by a touchdown to win. Not that most people watching the game could even tell you why.

SUPER BOWL XLI CHICAGO BEARS v INDIANAPOLIS COLTS Dolphin Stadium, 11.25pm Live, Sky Sports 1, 10.00; UTV, 10.45

BIG DEAL ?? According to Forbesmagazine, the Super Bowl is the world's most valuable sporting event brand ??More American women watch the Super Bowl than any other television programme every year ?? Americans will consume 27 billion calories and 1.8 billion grams of fat during the match ?? Over the past week, American companies lost $16m per minute in productivity due to workers talking about or sur"ng online for information about the Super Bowl ?? Four of the 10 most-watched TV shows in history are Super Bowls