This Sunday marks the 44th Super Bowl, pitting the New Orleans Saints against the Indianapolis Colts for a prestigious championship title and, of course, the coveted Super Bowl ring. Each year, millions of viewers tune in for this great American event in anticipation of seeing an amazing display of athleticism, an entertaining half-time show, and, last but certainly not least, the clever and expensive commercial spots.

Each year, we usually see commercials from the regulars, such as GM, Ford, Doritos, Miller, Bud, Coca-Cola and Pepsi. But this year, Pepsi has decided to forgo the traditional Super Bowl commercial in lieu of social media. According to a column by Larry Woodard on ABCNews.com, this marks the first time in 23 years that Pepsi will not partake in the Super Bowl festivities.

Let’s applaud Pepsi for following the changing media trends and increasing its use of social media sites to reach consumers.  As TV viewership declines each year and use of mobile-viewing and online-streaming sites like Hulu increase, social media usage is growing rapidly. According to Compete.com, Facebook and Twitter have seen a YoY increase in traffic (121 and 414 percent, respectively), from December 2008 to 2009.

Pepsi will reallocate its annual Super Bowl dollars to the Pepsi Refresh Project, instead. This philanthropic project will issue approximately $20 million in grants to U.S. charities specializing in health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education. According to Pepsi’s website, the project is “…looking for people, businesses and nonprofits with ideas that will have positive impacts.” From now until February 15, people can submit ideas for grants. Voting for these submissions will run March 1–31. Social media will be utilized to encourage people to spread the word about the Pepsi Refresh Project via sites like Facebook and Twitter.

As I’m watching the Super Bowl this year, I know Pepsi’s lack of advertising presence will inevitably be in the back of my mind. But I can honestly tell you that if the interactive arena wasn’t part of my daily job, I wouldn’t even necessarily notice. Now, let’s sit back, relax and see how this social effort plays out for Pepsi.