Reebok International Ltd.’s bone-crushing Super Bowl advertisement, by the Arnell Group, which teased a short film posted on its website, was a big hit with viewers and hinted that television — internet tie-ins still show promise.

Micky Pant, Reebok’s chief marketing officer, says that more than 140,000 people had visited the company’s web site by noon Monday to download the four-minute film about fictional football player Terry Tate. In the films, Tate tackles co-workers and browbeats them for turning in substandard reports.

Before Sunday’s game, Mr. Pant says Reebok wasn't sure how the Tate films would fit into its advertising strategy. Now, it is preparing 30-second television ads to tease three other short films, which will be posted to the website about every 10 days. The company isn’t ruling out making more films. Down the line, Mr. Pant says, the films may incorporate more Reebok products, which are largely missing from the initial series.

The popularity of the films matched the warm reception from television viewers. TiVo Inc. — whose service allows subscribers to rewind and fast forward live television — said the spot was the most-watched part of the telecast among its users. On America Online, the ad ranked second in popularity among the 390,000 votes cast as of Monday evening, behind the Osbournes’ Pepsi Twist spot.

The MVP performance by Reebok could presage additional efforts by advertisers to link television ads and web content — particularly with the advent of always-on broadband connections and wireless networks in homes. Already, about one-third of online households reported using the internet just before, after or during the Super Bowl, according to a survey Monday by comScore Media Metrix.

Still, television ads and the web have an uneasy past. Internet companies poured money into Super Bowl ads back in 2000, hoping to gin up interest in their websites and services. It proved a bad bet for most, and only a handful advertised this year. Also, while web addresses are now commonplace in television ads, more-elaborate tie-ins are rare — and have a mixed track record.

For instance, Reebok said only 25,000 people downloaded a film featuring Philadelphia 76er Allen Iverson several years ago, although that spot didn’t have Super Bowl exposure. Meanwhile, auto maker BMW has been advertising short films featuring its vehicles. Its first series of films, from popular directors including Guy Ritchie and Ang Lee, was viewed 14 million times, the company says.

Reebok wasn’t alone in trying to tie television and the Web. Levi Strauss & Co. ran a four-week online ad campaign and contest touting its new “Type 1” line of denim jeans. Throughout the month, users spent an average of 20 minutes on the apparel company’s website, Levi’s says, clicking through games and puzzles to help them gather hints to win a $150,000 prize. “That’s huge in Internet time,” says Jim Stone, Levi’s director of Internet marketing.

The campaign culminated with Super Bowl commercial with a hip, denim-clad couple staring down a herd of buffalo and a hint to the final clue. Gary Stein, marketing and advertising analyst for Jupiter Research in San Francisco, said that by creating a monthlong promotional event, Levi’s followed the pattern of the playoffs and turned its ad into an event that coincided with the game. Levi’s wouldn’t disclose traffic numbers, but did say the total number of people registered to participate in the game increased threefold on Sunday. Meanwhile, PepsiCo Inc. ran ads on Yahoo Inc.’s website encouraging users to vote on the ending for its Sierra Mist Super Bowl ad, which saw a monkey at the zoo catapult itself into the pool of the neighboring polar bear tank. Nearly 225,000 people voted, and chose to see the commercial end with the monkey frolicking in the polar bears’ pool. Voting also earned users entry into a contest with a $75,000 prize and a coupon for a bottle of Sierra Mist.

AT&T Wireless Services Inc., for its part, changed course. The wireless provider unveiled its Mlife alter ego and website in last year’s Super Bowl. But this year, the company tried to get customers to use its service. During the pregame show, the company asked users to send a text message to answer a trivia question and call a play.

AT&T Wireless didn’t have numbers about how many of its 20 million customers entered the trivia contest. Spokesman Jeremy Pemble said the company is “absolutely pleased” with the turnout. Stay tuned for more: Starting Feb. 4, viewers of the Fox hit show “American Idol” will be able to cast their votes using their phones.