Earlier this month, we told you that NBC was having some trouble selling its last available ads for Super Bowl XLIX in February 2015. While some traditional advertisers are back, we do have some first-time buyers. Now the $4.5 million per 30 second spot may be formidable for some marketers, but for those trying to establish a brand, it’s the best possible audience as it’s the biggest television viewership of the year and it’s where many viewers pay more attention to the ads than the actual game.
So with the help of Advertising Age, let’s take a look at which advertisers are back in the Big Game, which ones are buying for the first time and those which have decided to skip this year’s contest.
This year’s ad market is slow so it has hampered NBC’s efforts to sell ads. At last count, NBC still had about 9 to 10 commercial slots available at a point where Fox was just about sold out leading into Super Bowl XLVIII.
Who’s in? Here’s a small list:
Budweiser/Bud Light — Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch In-Bev, purchased five spots last year including the popular “Puppy Love“. Expect more animal-themed ads and perhaps one or two to tug on the heartstrings.
Coke — The soft drink company bought two ads in XLVIII including the polarizing “America is Beautiful” spot. As far as we know, it will air one ad in XLIX.
Doritos — Every year, Doritos airs an ad produced by viewers. This year is no exception. Sometimes the ad is funny, sometimes it’s not. It always provides buzz to Doritos which is why the company is doing this for the 9th consecutive year.
Loctite — The parent of Super Glue is spending money on the Super Bowl.
McDonald’s — After years of spending ad dollars on the Super Bowl pregame, the fast food company is back in the game after several years.
Mercedes-Benz — It opted out of last year’s game and is expected to return to the Big Game. One of its ads for XLVII was “Soul” starring the creepy Willem Dafoe as the devil.
Mophie — A first-time advertiser which is hoping to increase its brand awareness. In case you’ve never heard of Mophie, it’s a tech company that specializes in smartphone charging and other accessories.
Pepsi — It could be looking to sponsor the halftime as it has in the past.
Skittles — This would be the first time the candy would be buying a Super Bowl ad. If Seattle makes it back to the championship game, the tie-in with Marshawn Lynch would be a natural fit.
Toyota — The automaker would return for its third straight Super Bowl.
Wix.com — Another first-time buyer, Wix creates websites for small businesses and hopes the Super Bowl can springboard its brand just like the Big Game did for Squarespace last year(although the ad was quite confusing).
Skipping this year’s game are Lincoln-Mercury, Volkswagen, and possibly Squarespace, although we don’t have the final list as of yet.
The Super Bowl attracts an audience of over 110 million viewers and has set a record for viewership in four of the last five years. Knowing that, it’s hard for an advertiser to pass up those numbers even with the $4.5 million pricetag and a slow ad market.
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