Who are you rooting for in the Super Bowl ~ the Arizona Cardinals or the Pittsburgh Steelers? Or are you like so many who, frankly, doesn't care about who wins and who watches for the commercials? Budweiser. Pepsi. Some are funny. Some are crass. But they all give us something to talk about around the water cooler the next day.
The ads are costing $3 million for a 30 second spot during the game itself and those are selling just as well as they have in previous years. However the Super Bowl has become a day-long event, rather than just a three hour game. The NBC pre-game analysis alone is about 4 hours long ~ after all they have to show us a ton of beach scenes to make those of us who are below freezing at home jealous. (That's the real reason the NFL only awards Super Bowls to cities with warm climates dontchaknow.) Better make a bigger batch of sausage dip and chill a couple extra beers.
And there are still advertising spots during the pre-game festivities available. Whether it's because of the weaker economy or because the companies don't think that the extended football coverage makes it worth the investment.
So if you have a million bucks or so just laying around, you too can buy a pretty premium advertising spot during the pre-game saga... we're thinking a ShopperCast commercial poking fun at the other commercials would be fun and we're passing the hat around. Go team!
--Contributed by Deb