Super Bowl commercials will still go for laughs in 2009
— -- Sure, the economy has become gloomy and unpredictable for 2009, but folks can expect business as usual for one day: Feb. 1, Super Bowl Sunday.
Game advertisers will offer the familiar upbeat mix of punch lines, animal tricks, sentiment and special effects.
Tax service H&R Block thinks viewers will appreciate humor in its ad. "(Consumers) are saying, 'We know times are tough … but we still want to laugh,' " says Steve Wehrenberg, CEO of Block's ad agency Campbell Mithun.
The price tag for a 30-second ad slot also follows tradition: It's up again this year, to an average $3 million from $2.7 million in 2008. NBC says it has about 10% of 67 game ad slots left. Most sold early, though, and sales have been tough since the economy sank in the fall. Companies don't seem to be having second thoughts, however, about buying into an event with 97.5 million viewers in 2008.
"There is no other way in the U.S. to reach the amount of people that you can with the Super Bowl," says Richard Castellini, chief marketing officer of job search site CareerBuilder.com, jointly owned by Tribune, McClatchy, Microsoft and USA TODAY parent Gannett.
Despite a flood of pink slips, Castellini says, Big Game viewers expect "to be entertained," and his company will stick with off-the-wall humor, including an ad with an unhappy worker and a cute koala bear.
Among advertiser plans for the gridiron classic:
•Cola wars. Coke and Pepsi again will go head to head. PepsiCo, the game's second-biggest advertiser, with seven slots for its beverages and snacks, plans either two 30-second ads for Pepsi Max or a 60-second ad for flagship Pepsi-Cola. It would feature singer Will.i.am and the brand's new "Refresh Everything" tag line.
Coke also unveiled an ad theme this month for its flagship cola, "Open Happiness," and will feature it. But you won't see Coke's cola ads until the second half — rival Pepsi bought enough spots to have the first half to itself.
•Doritos DIY ad. The brand from PepsiCo's Frito-Lay brand recruited amateur video makers online for ads two years ago, and last year solicited amateur songs. This year's contest, again for videos, got more than 1,900 entries. Doritos picked five finalists that are posted on CrashTheSuperBowl.com for online voting to pick the one to air in the game. (It also is offering a $1 million prize to the maker if the ad wins USA TODAY's annual Ad Meter consumer rating of Super Bowl ads during the game.)
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