Advertisers might need a payday loan this year if they want to buy a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl. After paying a whopping $2.7 million for 30 seconds of advertising time last year, the price has been jacked up to an even $3 million.
- Anheuser-Busch bought the most advertising time of any company this year.
Despite the high price and the bad economy, NBC has had no problem selling the air time. The biggest advertiser this year is Anheuser-Busch, who bought 4.5 minutes worth of advertising. Yep, that’s $27 million.
Super Bowl Dropouts
For some companies, not even a payday loan could get them to shell out the dough this year. FedEx will not be advertising this year. The company says it is because of the economy.
General Motors also won’t have a presence in Super Bowl advertising. GM says the timing is bad.
In it to win it
Most of the regular advertisers though, still think the coveted spots are worth it. Coca Cola and Pepsi will have spots during the game. Several car companies will advertise, and online marketplaces including GoDaddy and E*Trade bought advertising time.
Pedigree pet food will have a presence during the game, and the National Football League gets to advertise for free. Companies who still want to buy advertising don’t have much time; 90 percent of the air time has already been sold.
Making history
Super Bowl spots didn’t always cost millions. In fact, it wasn’t until 1995 that the average price of 30 seconds of air time passed $1 million. In ‘95, the average price to air one commercial was $ 1.15 million, up from $900,000 the year before.
The price passed the $2 million mark in 2000, and it stayed pretty close to that number until 2004. The price hit $2.5 million in 2006, and it has gone up about $300,00 per year since then, making the leap this year from $2.7 million to $3 million pretty well expected.
Buyer’s remorse?
Many of the companies bought their advertising back in September. Since then, the economy has steadily gotten worse. Last year also featured one of the worst holiday shopping seasons the United States has seen. But there’s no return policy on Super Bowl ad spots. Advertisers are stuck with their pricey purchases whether they still want them or not.
GM made its decision not to advertise in September, when it was already apparent that the auto industry was going to take a big hit in the recession. FedEx still has time to buy if it wants to advertise for a 13th year in a row, but the company’s managing director of advertising assures viewers that is not going to happen. Despite the fact that FedEx won awards for its advertising in last year’s Super Bowl, the company says “a Super Bowl ad buy is not where we should put dollars at this time.”
Coughing up the cash
Even though some big-name advertisers refrained from buying ad time this year, there are plenty of companies who were willing to pay the price, and Super Bowl ads this year should be just as celebratory and larger-than-life as usual. Audi and Hyundai plan to unveil new products in their ads.
The $3 million price tag seems pretty high in a time when some Americans need a payday loan just to eat, but over-the-top Super Bowl ads are just as much a tradition as the game itself.
It’s absolutely ridiculous that amid the economic crisis, these companies are still willing to throw out a vast amount of money to advertise. If you ask me, I’d say it’s a sad waste. At least there are still some companies out there with brains. They are definitely on the right track – this is no time to be playing with money.
$3 million for 30 secs, I know that they are with out a doubt the best commercials you will ever see, but $3 million come on.
$3 Million for 30 seconds of air? That is incredible, but then again – it is the Super Bowl. The first game where it went over a million was Super Bowl 29 – oh, the Glory Days of Jerry Rice and Steve Young; and those were good times. (Especially when the Cowboys lost!) I remember the ads for that year, and they were superb. Its too bad there won’t be any GM ads this time around, because last year’s GM ads were great, especially the one about the depressed robot.