Sports

Many Companies Mum About Pricey Super Bowl Ads

NEW YORK (AP) ― Some Super Bowl viewers say they watch for the ads, not the game, and some ads will be talked about long after the game. But this year Super Bowl advertisers are keeping mum.

An estimated 90 million viewers in 45 million American households will be tuned to Super Bowl XLI, to be played Feb. 4 in Miami. CBS will air the game, and the network has sold 80 percent of the commercial time, or about 48 of the 59 or 60 scheduled ad units. The network is charging as much as $2.6 million for some spots.

Only 13 companies have revealed they have bought airtime, including perennial Super Bowl advertisers like Anheuser-Busch Cos., FedEx Corp., Pepsico Inc.'s Frito-Lay unit and General Motors Corp. And only a few, including the National Football League itself, are drawing attention to the impending ads. Eschewing bid budgets, the league is running a contest in which fans create, submit and vote on their own commercials.

The peak ad price is a record, and according to Matthew Creamer, editor at large of Advertising Age, companies are mulling other ways to get to consumers.

"There's this consensus that TV isn't the only game in town anymore," said Creamer, as companies look to the Internet and other media.

Creamer says the lowered publicity is a paradox, noting that Super Bowl ads typically get major news coverage before and after the game airs, making them more valuable.

"We're finding advertisers aren't calling as much attention to the fact that they're in the Super Bowl," he said, "which in my mind undercuts a lot of the reason you shell out $2.6 million to be in the Super Bowl."

There is also the risk of spending $2.6 million on a commercial that the audience doesn't like -- although those bombs can still receive a lot of attention.

One planned ad is already drawing criticism: Nationwide Insurance's latest, which features Kevin Federline as a fast food worker who daydreams about a rap career while his boss yells at him.

In a letter to Nationwide Chief Executive Jerry Jurgensen, his counterpart at the National Restaurant Association called the ad "a strong and direct insult to the 12.8 million Americans who work in the restaurant industry." It implies fast-food work is "demeaning and unpleasant," Steve Anderson wrote to Jurgensen.

In a written response, Nationwide said, "While we understand the perspective of the National Restaurant Association, please recognize this Super Bowl advertisement is a humorous take on one person's life. The intent of the ad isn't to offend or insult the many fine individuals who work in the restaurant industry."

Even if an ad is a hit, Creamer said, advertisers usually don't know if the spot helped business. With prices going up, they may be reconsidering that investment.

"Advertisers generally talk a lot about accountability and understanding what spending in different media does for a brand," he said. "If you spend $2.6 million, you'd better justify it and know what you're getting."

Also known to have purchased Super Bowl ads so far are Careerbuilder.com, which is jointly owned by Gannett Co., McClatchy Co. and Tribune Co.; Diamond Foods Inc.'s Diamond Emerald Nuts; Garmin Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and Yum Brands' Taco Bell chain.

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