Superbowl-ads.com Article Archive

A few weeks back, Under Armour shares were pummeled after the company announced advertising buys that would hamper earnings, including a commercial during Super Bowl XLII costing about $5 million. After last year’s game, Garmin received publicity for its Super Bowl spot — the wrong kind. Northwestern University’s Kellogg School named Garmin’s commercial (which cost $2.4 million to buy) the worst among scores of Super Bowl ads broadcast.

Despite all the hype about their creativity and an ability to reach television’s largest audience (93 million viewers) annually, Super Bowl commercials are risky ventures. Millions of dollars are dropped in less time than breaks between NFL plays, and the result may be viewers’ yawns and media pans. Which makes one wonder: Considering all the major sporting events during the year, isn’t there a better way for companies to spend their ad money?

Pre-game advertising in the NFL’s Super Bowl used to mean buying a cheaper ad slot in the hours leading up to the game. This year it means promoting the pricey ads in the months leading up to the Feb. 3 ad fest on Fox.Starting Thursday, Gatorade gives a sneak peek at their Super Bowl ads featuring sports stars Derek Jeter and Dwayne Wade.

As demand and prices continue to rise for the huge TV event, marketers are trying to get more bang for their 2.7 million bucks, the record ad rate for 30 seconds in this year’s game. As opportunities for big audience shows continue to diminish, advertisers are willing to pay more.

Ads used to be top secret until game day, but marketers are finding that more visibility and promotion in advance of the game can help cover the cost of the ads by generating more brand awareness or juicing sales.

Advertisers must do a delicate dance to get their brand out there without spoiling the fun for Super Bowl ad watchers. More than 90 million people are expected to watch the game and marketers want to make sure they tune in for their ads.

Are Today’s High-Tech Ads as Memorable As Those of the Past?

At this year’s Super Bowl, advertisers will pay as much as $2.6 million for a 30-second spot.

It’s a huge jump from the price tag of a Super Bowl ad decades ago, and the tactics have changed, too. Instead of relying on stick-in-your-head jingles and unforgettable characters, many advertisers now employ flashy graphics and out-of-this-world effects.

But as the stakes in the ad wars continue to grow, “Good Morning America” wondered, would the memorable, not so well-”hyped” commercials of years past work as well as today’s high-budget, high-tech ads?

According to Jerry Della Femina, CEO of Della Femina Rothschild Jeary and Partners and an advertising industry veteran, today’s consumers wouldn’t fall for the ads of yore.

“Some commercials that worked no longer work because people are smarter. They don’t fall for it,” he said. “Commercials have to be smart and better because you have a much smarter consumer out there.”

Indianapolis? Chicago? Who cares? For many, the battle between Anheuser-Busch, FedEx and CareerBuilder for funniest commercial is what matters on Super Bowl Sunday.

The hype around Super Bowl spots has reached a fever pitch this year.

CBS (Charts), which will be broadcasting Super Bowl XLI from Miami on Sunday, is said to be charging as much as a record $2.6 million for a 30-second commercial, up slightly from the $2.5 million Walt Disney (Charts)-owned ABC got for an ad last year.

Advertising Age reports that movie studios, usually a Super Bowl commercials mainstay, are largely absent from the February 4th game. CBS is charging $2.6 million for a 30-second spot.Last year, when the Super Bowl aired on Walt Disney Co.’s ABC, Disney promoted “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” but it has no plans to promote the third installment in this year’s telecast, instead using the high-profile event to showcase the comedy “Wild Hogs” and likely the computer-generated family flick “Meet the Robinsons.”

Other big franchise movies that are expected to dominate the box office this summer and will be absent from the game include Dreamworks’ “Shrek 3″ and Sony’s “Spider-Man 3.” Sony will buy a spot in the pre-game for its comic book-based “Ghost Rider,” which opens Feb. 16.

As his rap career wilts and divorce proceedings with his estranged wife, Britney Spears, go forward, Kevin Federline is finding his life getting stranger.

Now a Super Bowl commercial depicting him as a fry cook has embroiled “K-Fed” in the middle of a controversy a full week before the game is played.

“Good Morning America” got an exclusive look at the ad set to air during the game.

The commercial by Nationwide Insurance implies that Federline has fallen so low that he is now a “fry guy” at a fast-food restaurant. The ad contains the tag line “Life comes at you fast” and has infuriated those in the restaurant industry.

omber music plays as a chimpanzee looking pretty in pink nonchalantly picks its nose. Sweetly looking into the camera, she repeatedly sticks her finger in her nose and then licks her finger.”It’s tough working with monkeys. And we’ve had enough,” reads the on-screen copy. “Watch the CareerBuilder ads evolve. Feb. 4 on the big game.” The ad ends with the chimp giving the camera a proud, toothy grin.

That 30-second commercial is one of two new spots from the Chicago-based company that began running two weeks before the Super Bowl to heighten anticipation for its new campaign, “It’s a jungle out there. “The Super Bowl preview campaign is running on network TV and the client’s Web site.

Super Bowl advertisers have long touted their game buys with leaks to the press and partial previews of their spots in an effort to stretch their ad dollars. Controversial spots historically garner media attention that can add millions of dollars’ worth of “free exposure.” This year, however, an increasing number of advertisers are employing all sorts of supplementary efforts pre- and post-game in order to maximize the value of their $2.6 million ad buy. The approaches are varied, but the intention is the same: generate buzz early and prolong the shelf life of the commercials long after the game

Clutter is a headache for media people under any circumstances, making it harder for an advertiser’s message to stand out. And when you’re paying a record $2.6 million to deliver that message, as are those advertisers with spots in this year’s Super Bowl on CBS, it’s even more of a concern. According to a report released late last week by TNS Media Intelligence, the Super Bowl has become more cluttered than ever. Last year’s game on ABC contained a record 47.2 minutes of ads, nearly four more minutes than Fox had the previous year. That includes promotions for the Super Bowl carrier’s own shows, a category that has exploded over the past five years. In 2001, the Super Bowl carrier ran 5 minutes and 55 seconds of self-promotion. Last year that soared to 10 minutes and 25 seconds. TNS also found that over the past 20 years, the Super Bowl has run more than 11 full hours of commercials for 221 advertisers, representing an investment of $1.72 billion.

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.”

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.