Update: Watch the Dolce ad here. (Poor dog.)

Did Maria Sharapova name her dog after a Starbucks’ bevvie, or was it the other way around?

For fans of the blonde marketing machine, tonight will definitely be a sweet treat. Maria’s two new Canon Powershot TV ads, “Banter” and “Dolce” are launching, featuring her little Pomeranian Dolce de Leche.

One of the two spots will air on the season finale of 24 tonight, and the other will air during the finale of American Idol Wednesday night. They will air together during the NBA Finals, as well as on other cable shows such as ESPN and Tennis Channel coverage of the French Open.

Talk about your heavy ad buys!

Both spots center on the humorous interplay between Sharapova and her Pomeranian, Dolce. “Banter” involves Maria chasing Dolce around various locations, including a tennis court, her house and her pool, constantly trying to capture his every move with her PowerShot SD750 digital camera. Dolce responds to Maria’s demands to “smile” and “roll over” through a voiceover, snapping back with lines such as, “A little snap-happy with the new camera, no?” and, “You think you own me? Oh wait, you do own me.”

Doesn’t that sound like the imaginary conversation you’d have with every Pom you’ve ever met? Of course it does! Except for the who-owns-who part. Anyway, is it just us or does Dolce sound a little like Rafa, no?

“Dolce” also centers on Maria and Dolce, but highlights the Genuine Canon Face Detection Technology, which sets the appropriate focus and exposure, and can detect up to nine faces, as well as determine if a face is the main subject of the scene as the ensuing frames demonstrate how it works.

We’ll go out on a limb and guess that the face techno thingie is way sexy to camera geeks.

The companion print ad (see scan above) shot by photographer Walter Iooss, who shot Sharapova’s now-famous SI swimsuit photos (slideshow here), will begin running in June and appear in a number of magazines, including Entertainment Weekly, People and Wired. Canon is also launching an interactive campaign, that will go out to assorted websites starting in June.

Sure, we know it’s not like you’ll never see these spots, but if you’re already going to be watching 24 tonight, maybe you now have a reason not to ad-skip. Right?

As for her little puppy-wuppy, we do know how Masha loves the ‘Bucks, so it’s entirely possible she named her new pooch for a new latte. Weigh in below if you know for sure, especially if you work for Starbucks’ ad dept. (A-hem)

[Via Canon]