Long before it’s been decided which two NFL teams will compete in the Super Bowl advertisers throughout the US have approved, filmed and edited the TV ads that they will show in the game.
Harnessing the kinds of production budgets for 30 second ads that would dwarf those of 90 minute independent films, this is the big league of advertising.
So it’s no surprise that the leaders in the advertising industry are as eager as anyone to see how their competitors are spending their clients’ money.
There’s also the inevitable speculation about which A-listers will be recruited to star in the ads, whether brands will go for the funny or simply a spectacular demonstration of their product’s features.
This is also in the context of an event that is hyped up to be one of the greatest spectacles on Earth, every feature of which is mega.
The biggest, boldest sporting event of the year
Let’s start with the viewership. A staggering 202.4 million people tuned in to watch at least some of the action as the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in Super Bowl LVIII. There was the added attraction of Taylor Swift, not performing in the legendary half time show but there to cheer on boyfriend, the Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce.
These viewing figures made it the biggest TV event of the year by a considerable distance. The sheer number of viewers also meant that advertisers were happy to spend the requisite $7 million+ for a 30 second spot in a break in the action.
Naturally, these kinds of viewing figures also mean that the Super Bowl is also a positive goldmine for sportsbooks too with the nation keeping a close eye on Super Bowl odds in the hope of getting the best value they can on their chosen team.
But what makes the event so very special is that it’s one of the rare moments when much of the nation is watching. In the same way that the first moon landing back in 1969 united the country, the Super Bowl achieves this year after year.
And when TV advertising has far less power than in former eras it is an opportunity that many can’t afford to miss.
Besides, there are plenty of case studies that have shown that an ad in the Super Bowl can be the perfect launching pad for a long-running and successful campaign.
Campaigns that took off at the Super Bowl
Over the years there have been many ad campaigns that received their big launch at the event. These then went on to extend into other media having made their initial big splash on the small screen.
Perhaps the most famous of all of these, and the one you’ll find quoted in many of the books on advertising, came back in 1984.
Up until then Apple had been a minor player in the world of technology. But it was soon to start its phenomenal growth leading to the multi trillion dollar business it is today.
The 60 second commercial screened at half time played on the imagery of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 to announce that big changes were on the way. Created by the ad agency Chiat Day and directed by Ridley Scott the ad saw a world of grey drones being dictated to by Big Brother being destroyed by a hammer-throwing vision of the future.
The message was that the new Apple Macintosh computer would be launched in a few days’ time. The rest, as they say is history.
Many other notable brands, including many that are dear to the hearts of the American public, have mad a big splash at the Super Bowl.
This is quite literally what the after-shave Old Spice achieved with its “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” ad in 2010. In a slick ad in which Isaiah Mustafa magically provided everything a partner could wish for from a handful of diamonds to the funnily generic “tickets for that thing you love” it brought new life to a very old brand.
The list of slogans launched at the Super Bowl is also extensive. These range from the ultimately annoying “Whasssup?” from Budweiser to Wendy’s long-running “Where’s the beef?”
It’s very possible that none of these campaigns would ever have taken off as much as they did without the kickstart provided by Super Bowl exposure.
As the 1960 cultural commentator Marshall McLuhan famously pronounced, “the medium is the message”. So by being associated with such a huge event it also gives the ads that appear round it, as well as any sponsors associated with it, special significance.
And for brands that are either trying to build their image or take it in another direction, that’s well worth the huge expense to be part of it.
