Superbowl stands for parties, food, beer, and…commercials.  Commercial ads bring millions of dollars for just a small 30-second ad spot during the game.  Superbowl ads may be the only time a captive audience actually looks forward to the ads.  Many women will watch the game that normally would ignore the event because of the new, humorous, and different TV ads.  Watching the Superbowl for your family may be a priority because you are in a section of the country with fans equally split between the Bears and the Colts.  Some will watch because they want to see the new an interesting ways the companies say the same old thing!

According to media buyers, a 30-second spot on the Superbowl will cost more this year than in previous years.  They expect one ad will be worth a whopping $2.5 million dollars!  Some companies will pay a record-breaking $2.6 million dollars for the privilege of having a spot during the Super Bowl.

It is hard to gauge if companies will actually pay that kind of money because incentives and discounts are given to most advertisers.  Prices are still high but many company officers feel the ad spots are well worth the money spent on them. 

Some commercials are memorable and others people forget the next day.  Some are booms and some are flops.  Who will ever able to forget the Clydesdales bowing on that Pennsylvania field after 9/11?  Anheuser Busch will have ten spots during the Super Bowl.  Many of those will be memorable and some will not stay around long enough to become memorable.  Out of those Super Bowl ads we got the popular Bud-Wi-Ser frogs, and the Dalmatian mascot. 

This year the Frito-Lay Company, maker of Doritos invited viewers to take part in the commercials aired on this year’s Super Bowl.  And this year’s Doritos commercials were different and innovative.  Some were downright funny!  Viewers were asked to make their own commercials and submit them to the company.  Five were chosen in January and the commercials were run on Yahoo so the American public could vote for their favorite.  The winner will be announced by Frito-Lay and voted on by ordinary people. 

The Chevrolet people gave this idea a new twist by asking consumers to come up with an ad idea and then having an ad agency write the commercial.  GoDaddy, which is an online domain name register, had a commercial on this year.  They are known for their risqué ads they claim have brought enormous business to their company.  Although controversial, they are also consumer oriented and seem to work for that company.

A company faces the challenge of producing a commercial spot specifically for the Super Bowl.  It takes millions to buy a spot during the game and can also cause another million dollars or two to produce a new spot.  Companies need to be careful that with that money, a flop can be a disaster for a company. 

Some companies spend the money, even if they are small, because it gives them better placement on grocer’s shelves and raises brand awareness.  Diamond elected to have a spot during the game because it helped them with in-store promotions and improved placement of their products.

Football often benefits from the ads, too.  Many people will tape the game so they can watch the commercials over and over again.  In the end, everyone is a winner!  The game of football, consumers, companies, and those captive football widows who have something to look forward to in the biggest game of the year all are winners when the ads are interesting and exciting.

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