It’s not even Thanksgiving but Fox has just announced that 90% of their advertising real estate for next year’s Super Bowl is already sold out. The game doesn’t start for three months, yet less than ten, 30-second spots are left…At a mere $2.7m a piece.
The Super Bowl attracts what is arguably the largest single collection of attentive eyeballs on the planet, a vast swathe of which are owned by people 18-49 – the advertiser’s gold-mine! So the size of this demand is barely a surprise. The staggering scale of their audience also makes these ads the focus of some of Madison Avenue’s most intense and artistic efforts. For many people, the results are the major, if not the only reason to watch the game at all! I know, I’m one of them — if I lived to be 200 I’d never understand American Football.
Most of the commercials seem destined to be for cars, movies and fast food; Which is a shame as the smaller advertisers often bring the most memorable ads. And with so much demand so early, Fox could now demand almost usury rates for the few vacant spots – which shrinks the smaller guy’s odds even further. And that’s just depressing.
“Faux News” have also offered buyers the option to run ads on their social hub, ‘MySpace.’ The Network will then run promotions during the game, telling the viewers [who, in case anyone cares, would rather be watching the sport !] to visit the site, where they can snag extras like coupons, links and the chance to watch exclusive trailers.
It might be that my view is outdated, but commercials were invented as a way to bring the shows to the viewer without cost. Today, as this ‘Bowl-buying’ frenzy further proves, the mind-set seems to be that the shows are there to bring viewers to the ads. If you give your audience mediocre programs, infested with endless [highly profitable] commercials, don’t be surprised if your ratings collapse. And, as a glance at the Nielsen’s will tell you, that’s exactly what’s happened.
One day…maybe…they’ll catch on.
The ads are sold. Now comes the hype. Kick-off is February 3rd. Start warming up!…
