I don't think this is Microsoft throwing money at SE. SE is obviously using MS to penetrate the American market so it's more of a partnership that may involve money but I don't think it's just MS giving a bunch of money to be the exclusive advertiser. MS has a 9+million userbase advantage over Sony in America. The MS userbase would probably benefit/rely more from a commercial than the Sony loyal fanbase would. So why wouldn't SE advertise with the 360 logo? SE wants to get the Halo kids to buy their games. I don't know how successful they will be but that's who they are targeting. The typical west gamer.