Superbowl-ads.com Article Archive

Cartoonish violence ruled the day at the annual knockdown competition among advertisers Sunday, as Bud Light, Diet Pepsi, Michelob and Sprint all used physical gags to hawk their wares at the Super Bowl, the most-watched television broadcast of the year.

Borrowing inspiration from Buster Keaton, advertisers used mauling bears, flying dinosaurs and even action movie star Jackie Chan to wow viewers with sight gags.

Commercials that air during the Super Bowl generate as much, if not more buzz than the game itself. But breaking through that buzz and selling the product is a challenge for advertisers. Sometimes the product can get lost in the entertainment.

“People are getting so much buzz before and after that you’re really getting more than you spend,” said Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO and founder of Kaplan Thaler Group. “I’ve never seen so much buzz on the ads beforehand. Now you can download ads on your cell phone. You’ve got viral marketing.”

The overall winner in this year’s Super Bowl ads had to be Anheuser-Busch with at least five good spots. Almost all the Bud Light commercials featured comedy, and regular Budweiser — with its beautifully shot Clydesdales — had several touchdowns, scoring points in both the humor and tasteful nostalgia categories.

Both the revolving wall/Magic Fridge spot and the guys hanging out on the rooftop supposedly “fixing things” while they drink Bud Light with their Buds had great “dude” appeal.

The commercials that aired during Super Bowl XL Sunday night, like the game itself, probably won’t go down in history as being all that memorable.

“It was pretty much standard fare,” said Paul Murray, creative director at Pavone, a brand consulting firm based in Harrisburg, Pa., that runs SpotBowl.com, a Web site where viewers can vote for their favorite commercials. “It was a lot of animals and broad humor. There were not too many surprises.”

Among the bigger winners, according to several ad experts as well as online polls of Super Bowl viewers, were many of the usual suspects, including Anheuser-Busch, which bought 10 spots during the game.

The commercials that aired during Super Bowl XL Sunday night, like the game itself, probably won’t go down in history as being all that memorable.

“It was pretty much standard fare,” said Paul Murray, creative director at Pavone, a brand consulting firm based in Harrisburg, Pa., that runs SpotBowl.com, a Web site where viewers can vote for their favorite commercials. “It was a lot of animals and broad humor. There were not too many surprises.”

There are many Americans who will tune into the biggest football game of the year not for the Pittsburgh-Seattle matchup, but for the commercials that will air.

From the beloved to the controversial, some Super Bowl commercials remain etched in American memory for years. Even many of those too young to have seen the ad first air are familiar with the Coke commercial featuring football player Mean Joe Green throwing his shirt to a young fan. Budweiser beer ads, which have often pushed the propriety envelope in the past, also tend to live in infamy.

Companies are banking on the fact that these Super Bowl commercials will stick in the memories of the game’s 90 million viewers. Advertisers are paying a record $2.5 million for a single 30-second spot — up from $2.4 million last year. A 30-second prime-time spot during the Olympics costs about $700,000.

TV is just one way viewers can have Burger King’s first Super Bowl ad in a decade.

The Whopperettes will star in a Burger King ad during the Super Bowl.

Shortly after Burger King’s 60-second ad airs before an expected 90 million Super Bowl viewers on Feb. 5, it will go out over one of the newest ad media. Millions of Sprint wireless phone subscribers with video service will have the chance to watch a longer version that includes outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage.

Have a great Super Bowl ad idea?

It may not be too late to sign up for the ABC broadcast. At the end of the week, ABC still had a few 30-second ad slots up for grabs — good news for an advertiser looking to get a deep discount on the average $2.5 million price tag.

MasterCard took advantage with a late entry, signing on late last week. They didn’t get the choicest real estate — the ad will air in the fourth quarter — but Amy Fuller, who oversees marketing in the Americas, says every quarter is worth it: “The ratings hold strong. There isn’t a dud quarter. It’s a good value.”

It almost didn’t happen, but GoDaddy.com, the domain-name registrar that was scolded last year for running a racy commercial during the Super Bowl, got approval from ABC today to run a spot during this year’s big game.

“This showdown went down to the wire. We were about out of time and had produced our 14th and final attempt. I’m ecstatic about being in the Super Bowl again,” said Bob Parsons, founder and president of GoDaddy.com, in a statement.

GoDaddy said it went through multiple revisions of its ad and had negotiated with network censors before it finally won approval.

Nationwide, which quietly dipped its toe into network advertising last year with spots in pro golf tournaments and college football, is spending more than $1 million for a 30-second ad during the third quarter of the Super Bowl.

The commercial, featuring romance-novel-cover king Fabio, is the latest production in the “Life Comes at You Fast” ad campaign, now in its third year. The company has two other new spots in the pregame show.

The decision to pony up big bucks for the Super Bowl “is as much to raise awareness” about Nationwide as it is to sell products, said Steven Schreibman, vice president for advertising and brand management.