Despite being faced with all-time high levels of red ink in the near future, Washington ended up spending $2.5 Million for census advertisements, by rolling these during the Super Bowl.

With the move, the Census Bureau is looking to make the most of the strong ratings from this yearly attraction, with the aim to bag more participation from people who do not seem to be very keen on mailing back a questionnaire sent out by the Government, or even answering the door.

Census officials have termed this as a good investment, stressing that the front-end costs of buying the ads can be quickly replenished if they succeed in encouraging people to mail the census forms back.

Not everyone, however, seems to think the same and the move has managed to send some very bitter criticism towards the Bureau.

"The government shouldn't be wasting $2.5 million taxpayer dollars to compete with ads for Doritos", tweeted Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican.