After the lights went out at last night's Super Bowl, light bulbs went on above the heads of the creative team behind Oreo cookies ads. When a power outage at the Superdome in New Orleans stopped the game between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers for an epic 34 minutes, Oreo's team took action and posted a simple ad that was retweeted, or shared, more than 14,500 times on Twitter. The message: "Power Out? No Problem" accompanied with a picture of a cookie with the line "You can still dunk in the dark." How did 360i --the agency responsible for the ad-- do it so quickly?

"Because Oreo was a Super Bowl advertiser, we had set up a team of folks at our offices with people from Oreo as well to both listen to and optimize the chatter on the Internet," Sarah Hofstetter, president of 360i told Speakeasy via email. "While we certainly didn't expect the blackout, the team's first instinct upon the blackout was to figure out how Oreo can be relevant in the moment. Having a full team of creative, social media experts and the brand made it quick and seamless."

Oreo's instant Twitter ad stood out on a night when 30-second ads on TV cost $3.8 million. It helped demonstrate the power of ingenuity over money, and social media over traditional forms. It is likely part of a coming wave of real-time advertising that reacts, like a political campaign war room, to real-time events.

Late last year, Oreo and cinema chain AMC Theatres had a funny Twitter spat over the question, "Ever bring your own Oreo cookies to the movie theater?" Hofstetter said Oreo exemplifies some of the "best practices" when it comes to effective digital branding: "They are relevant, visible and constant. And they are a brave brand. So whether it was the Daily Twist program from this summer, their amazing 100 birthday celebration last year, or last night's real-time culture-jacking, Oreo finds a way to be relevant and on brand," Hofstetter said.