ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220014
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Marketplace
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL
You aren't into football and you'd rather give yourself a tattoo than watch Super Bowl XXXIXVXCMI - or whatever number we're up to - on Sunday.
That's fine, but remember: If you don't tune in, you'll be missing some great moments in advertising.
Like the commercial that, a dozen-odd years ago, introduced the world to the new Apple Macintosh computer.
Or the more recent Bud Bowl and Bud Frog series.
OK, so maybe they aren't all great. But the Super Bowl is one of the most-watched television events of the year - more than 100 million people are expected to tune in for at least part of it - and it has become known as the launching pad for pricey, flashy, big-name ad campaigns.
Here are some of the commercials you risk missing if you (a) don't watch the Super Bowl, or (b) view every commercial break as an opportunity to raid the fridge:
* Among this year's most hyped ads is one for Visa International featuring Bob Dole and his hometown of Russell, Kan. The 60-second spot for the Visa Check Card is along the same lines as the ones run last year featuring Deion Sanders and Daffy Duck. In Dole's spot, he visits his adoring hometown but can't write a check anywhere because he doesn't have any identification with him.
Nobody at Visa is saying how much Dole is getting for the ad, but industry insiders have estimated his turn as pitchman is worth between $500,000 and $750,000.
* Immediately following the halftime show, Oscar Mayer will introduce 3-year-old Andrew Thompson, the grand prize winner of its national talent search. Andrew will sing his own version of the Bologna Song. A second commercial, to air earlier in the game, will show highlights from the talent search. Look for lots of cute kids singing variations on the familiar ditty and the Oscar Mayer Weiner Song.
* Also expected to debut during the Super Bowl is a spot for Coca-Cola Co.'s newest soda, Surge. The greenish-yellow citrus drink - high in calories and caffeine - will do battle with Pepsico Inc.'s well-established Mountain Dew, the nectar of sleep-and nutrition-deprived college students everywhere.
* Several automakers will introduce new models: Porche with its Boxster convertible; Cadillac with its Catera (and Cindy Crawford); and American Honda with its CR-V sport/utility vehicle.
* Sneaker marketer Fila will air its first Super Bowl ad, for a new shoe named after NBA star Jerry Stackhouse. The commercial shows the athlete jumping after a basketball from a tall building that's under construction.
* And two commercials not to wait for: Super Bowl perennials McDonald's and Reebok aren't advertising during the game this year.
Prime commercial spots don't come cheap. Fox sold 30-second gametime spots for a whopping $1.2 million apiece, or $40,000 per second. According to Broadcasting & Cable Magazine, that's about $1 million more per spot than the network charged during the World Series.
Fila, for instance, could have bought eight prime-time ads on the broadcast networks or 100 spots on cable television for the same price it paid to air its single Stackhouse ad.
But big companies are willing to pay. Competitive Media Reporting, which tracks ad spending, said Pepsico - parent of Doritos, Pizza Hut, Pepsi and other brands - spent $69.7 million on game-day ads between 1991 and 1996. It was the top spender each of those years. Next in line: Anheuser-Busch, with $49.6 million; and Nike, with $19.3 million.
Last year, the most spent on any single company product was $3.25 million by the Ford Motor Co., for its trucks and pickups.
You'll see a few local commercials on Fox this Sunday. Tony Kahl, station manager at WFXR/WJPR (Fox 21/27) in Roanoke, said Fox has allocated 10 spots for local commercials during the game. Another 12 local spots will air during the pre-game shows and four during post-game festivities. Many are auto-related - Auto Zone, Shelor Chevrolet, Advance Auto, Robert Woodall Chevrolet in Danville - although Kroger and Nationwide Insurance also will air spots.
Local advertisers who managed to snag spots during the Super Bowl didn't have to pony up millions for their air time. But they did pay inflated rates. A 30-second spot went for an average of $7,500, Kahl said. Similar time during a typical NFL Sunday game runs $1,000 to $1,500, he said, depending on the teams and the advertising package.
The Super Bowl "is the most-watched television event of the year," Kahl said. "It's no longer just a football game. It's a national event."
Super spending
This year, all 58 of the 30-second advertising spots during the Super Bowl sold out for $1.2 million each, for a total of $69.6 million.
Pre- and post-game 30-second spots are selling for $50,000 to $800,000, depending on proximity to game time.
From 1991 to 1996, the price of a 30-second spot during the game increased from $800,000 to $1.08 million, a pre-game spot from $197,100 to $280,000, and a post-game spot from $373,478 to $505,000.
Last year, with 128 spots to sell throughout all the segments, NBC racked up $86.8 million. The year before, ABC's gross revenues totaled $90.7 million.
Over the past six years, total advertising for the Super Bowl extravaganza - pre-game, game, post-game - has totaled $425.2 million.
Source: Competitive Media Reporting, New York Times News Service
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Supermodel Cindy Crawford (left) meets the Cateraby CNBduck in Cadillac's first-ever Super Bowl television ad. 2. The ad
(below) by the National Pork Producers Council also will debut. Even
at a record ad price of $40,000 per second, companies have wallets
fat enough to afford Super Bowl commercial time any year they want.
color. Graphic: Chart by staff: Super spending. KEYWORDS: MGR