Eugene David<br>...The One-Minute Pundit

Posted 7:02 PM by Gene

Advertisers as whiny spoiled brats -- at the SUPER BOWL:

Just how seriously clients take their Super Bowl advertising can be seen in the controversy generated during last year’s telecast on Fox, when GoDaddy.com ran an ad that drew viewer complaints for being too risqué; Fox pulled that same spot later in the telecast. Fox insiders said Pepsi, which was in the same commercial pod as the first GoDaddy spot, also complained to the network about the ad, contending that it ruined the environment for its own spots....

Sources said McDonald’s was particularly miffed last year when its “Lincoln Fry” spot got spectacularly poor reviews among critics and consumers. The company had decided last year that if its spot didn’t make the top 10 in the USA Today poll, it would not be back in the ’06 game, sources said. McDonald’s had no comment. [EMPHASIS ADDED.]

Plus -- THE UNTHINKABLE may be happening:

The price of a 30-second spot has remained relatively flat in recent years because, sources say, marketers have become more reluctant to spend so much. In the 24 years that Nielsen Monitor-Plus has tracked prices in the game, the cost to advertise has increased all but six times, with five of those instances coming in the last 10 years. More recently, the price for the 2003 telecast was down 2 percent to $2.15 million per :30. In 2002, the price was unchanged at $2.2 million.

How far along ABC is in selling the game is uncertain. The network would not comment at all last week on its progress—a possible sign that the game may not be selling as well as in past years. Normally at this time of year, at least 75 percent of the 58 in-game spots have been sold, and the network with the game confirms, if only on background, how many it has left. Last year at this time, Fox was 75 percent sold, and in 2003, CBS was roughly 80 percent sold.

There are some indications from the client side that Super Bowl time is not selling as quickly as in past years. Procter & Gamble confirmed that its brands would be on the sidelines for the second consecutive year, with the possible exception of recently acquired Gillette, for which plans have not been finalized, a company representative said. And perennial advertiser Pepsi is reducing its spot load by one or two, sources said.

General Motors will showcase its Cadillac brand once again this year, but a rep said the number of spots that GM will put in the game was not finalized (last year it had six in-game spots). But the automaker still sees value in the game.

Well thank God there are SOME people with sense! There's still value in SHOWING OFF YOUR TICKETS -- even while your market share goes to hell in a handbasket.