Super Bowl Ads Censors by
Fox
CNN/Money
Advertisers are shelling out a record $2.4M per spot
4 controversial ads have been pulled.
February 4, 2005: 5:20 PM EST
By Krysten Crawford
CNN/Money staff writer
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A Super Bowl commercial costs more than
ever, but here's one way advertisers can get the most bang for
their buck: Produce a tasteless ad that television executives
reject, make it publicly available, and let the free publicity
flow.
This year at least four advertisers -- Anheuser-Busch,
GoDaddy.com, Ford Motor Company, and Airborne, a cold remedy
maker -- have captured headlines for controversial ads that were
pulled from Sunday's Eagles-Patriots matchup.
Money can't buy that kind of media exposure. Not unless, of
course, you are a Super Bowl advertiser that just shelled out a
record $2.4 million for a 30-second spot on what will be the most
widely watched TV show of the year.
After last year's unsavory lineup and Janet Jackson's
"wardrobe malfunction" during the live halftime show, the
pressure is on to make sure ads are nothing but good, clean
fun.
"I think the wardrobe malfunction will have changed this
year's ads significantly," said Bernice Kanner, the author of The
Super Bowl of Advertising: How the Commercials Won the Game. "The
pendulum has swung so far the other way."
So say good-bye to the flatulent Budweiser horse and the
crotch-biting dog. Don't expect to see Mike Ditka hawking
impotency drugs. And, yes, recent reports that Mickey Rooney's
bare butt was due to make an appearance are true -- but Fox, the
News Corp. (Research) unit that is airing Sunday's game, spared
viewers that searing image by rejecting the ad.
Anheuser-Busch's yanked its planned spoof of the Jackson
breast brouhaha last year after game and network officials
balked.
Ford Motor this week pulled an ad for its luxury Lincoln SUV
after a Roman Catholic sex abuse victims group complained. The ad
portrayed a clergyman caressing the vehicle and then listing
"Lust" as his next sermon topic on the church's outdoor sign.
And Fox last week rejected flat out an ad for GoDaddy.com, a
reseller of Internet domain names, that featured a buxom brunette
gyrating before an unidentified network censorship. Yet another
ad like it passed the propriety test and will air this
weekend.
Bob Parsons, GoDaddy.com's president, declined to say what Fox
found objectionable about the one take but not the other, but he
doesn't think the company crossed the line.
"This year everybody is on a pretty tight leash," grumbled
Parsons, who subsequently posted the banned ad on his Web
log.
Up and up and up
The $2.4 million average price for a half-minute ad is a 6
percent increase from 2004 and more than double the cost from a
decade ago. Fox said Thursday that all 59 slots had been
sold.
The Super Bowl has long commanded the highest ad rates of any
television program. By way of comparison, 30-second ads on prime
time typically run about $400,000, though it's worth noting that
last year's NBC "Friends" finale cost advertisers $2 million a
slot.
As for the halftime show, last year's scandal over Jackson's
bare breast didn't dampen prices any. Ameriquest Mortgage is
paying a record $15 million to sponsor what's sure to be a
straitlaced intermission featuring Paul McCartney. The price is
50 percent higher than what America Online paid in 2004.
Jack Myers, an independent media analyst, thinks there's no
end to the upward spiral of Super Bowl costs, especially as
advertisers struggle to reach consumers enamored of ad-skipping
devices.
"The Super Bowl is a way to reach to hard-to-get audiences,"
said Myers.
Kanner, for one, doubts that networks ever get the published
rates for a Super Bowl spot. "It's like the sticker price on a
car. Nobody pays that amount," she said.
She estimates that Fox is receiving closer to $1.7 million per
30-second slot.
Lou D'Ermilio, a Fox Sports spokesman, declined to comment on
ad prices. "The marketplace for the game this year has been very
strong," he said.
No smut, lots of celebrities
Puritanism may be the order of the day, but that doesn't mean
that the ads won't be funny. It just means marketers will have to
work a lot harder to get laughs.
They appear as eager as ever to try.
Frito-Lay, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch and Ford Motor are among
the perennial Super Bowl advertisers who are back in the game
this year. Taking a pass are Monster Worldwide, the job search
Web site operator, Procter & Gamble and its newly-announced
merger partner, Gillette. Rookies include CareerBuilder.com,
GoDaddy.com and countertop maker Cosentino USA.
"The ads aren't dull," said Kanner, who called the ones she's
seen both irreverent and cheeky. "But they're much less
in-your-face."
For some viewers, GoDaddy.com, a closely held Scottsdale,
Ariz. company, might bring back memories of a time not so long
ago when cash-rich Internet companies populated Super Bowl
advertising. When the stock market bubble burst starting in 2000,
so did many of these companies.
"The Super Bowl is the perfect medium for us," said Parsons,
who estimates that roughly a third or more of the game's viewers
have high-speed Internet access and, hence, are his target
audience.
Andrew Donchin, director of national broadcast for media
buying firm Carat USA, says the payoff for Super Bowl advertisers
is a no-brainer.
"The Super Bowl is like a national holiday," he said. "People
are going to sit and watch commercials more intently than they
ever have."
If they're any good, viewers can watch a post-game instant
replay of them all on The NFL Network. If the ads bomb, there's
always The Lingerie Bowl on pay-per-view. Or the possibility of
another errant streaker rushing the field. Top of page
|