For the first approach, he shapes a wettened cone of clay on a fast-spinning wheel, gradually turning a small dimple in the top into a bowl shape, which he smooths with a deerskin cloth and releases from its base with one quick draw of a taut wire.

BBC: The art of Japan

Steve Shannon, vice president of marketing for Hyundai's American division, says that while Hyundai has used focus-group testing to help it select and shape its Super Bowl ads for several years this year it went even further and put its two big game spots through an additional focus group test that was done online.

WSJ: Advertisers Practice for Super Bowl