Super Bowl Draws Record Viewers; Budweiser Tops Ads
Last nights Super Bowl broadcast of
the New York Giants upset win over the New England Patriots
drew a record audience with 97.5 million viewers, News Corp.s
Fox Sports said, citing Nielsen Media Research.
The game was the most-watched Super Bowl in the football
championships 42-year history, beating the previous 1996 mark
of 94.1 million viewers, Fox said today in an e-mailed
statement. The audience increased the value for advertisers who
spent an estimated average of $2.7 million for a 30-second spot.
“You could argue this might have been a perfect game from
an advertising perspective, said Tim Calkins, a marketing
professor at Northwestern Universitys Kellogg School of
Management. “For a lot of the game the football wasnt that
exciting, which really put the focus on the commercials, and
the close score kept audiences tuned in, he said.
Super Bowl advertisers during the Fox broadcast benefited
from a captive audience in the Giants 17-14 win over the
Patriots to pitch products using oversized carrier pigeons, a
talking stain, parade balloons and a Clydesdale horse vying to
pull the Budweiser wagon.
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Rocky-themed commercial featuring the
Clydesdale with a Dalmatian dog as its trainer was rated the top
Super Bowl advertisement, according to USA Todays Ad Meter and
the polling Web site Adbowl.com. Omnicom Group Inc.s DDB
Chicago created the commercial for Budweiser.
Screaming Squirrel
“The Clydesdales already have a relationship with everyone
in America so people want to like the spot, said Steve McKee,
president of Albuquerque, New Mexico-based McKee Wallwork
Cleveland Advertising, the firm that runs Adbowl. “Its
somewhat formulaic, but its a formula we like.
An ad for Bridgestone Corp.s tires, in which forest
animals scream as a car narrowly dodges a squirrel, was the
second-best ad, according to Adbowl.
Coca-Cola Co. had another of the top-rated ads with
Thanksgiving Day parade balloons Underdog and “The Family
Guys Stewie battling for a Coke bottle, only to be beaten out
by Charlie Brown over Central Park. Another favorite involved
carrier pigeons the size of cars attempting to deliver packages
for a business, until the companys boss suggests switching to
FedEx Corp.
Top Venue
Car, beverage and movie advertisers battled it out during
timeouts trying to take advantage of a live game when fewer
viewers were likely to record and skip commercials.
Humor and celebrity appearances landed commercials on the
top list for TiVo Inc.s digital video recorder users, who could
play back their favorite spots. E*Trade Financial Corp.s
talking baby, who gushed about how easy it is to buy stock using
the online service and then spit up, was the most watched
commercial for TiVo DVR users. PepsiCo Inc.s ads with singer
Justin Timberlake and a viewer-created commercial where a human-
sized mouse goes after a whole bag of Doritos came in second and
third, TiVo said today in a statement.
The Super Bowl may have also attracted more advertiser
interest as the Hollywood writers strike has limited the number
of new episodes of scripted shows. Fox sold its last ad spot by
Jan. 29, its earliest ever.
“What theyre paying for, regardless of the quality of the
game, its the one venue where you can reach all of America,
McKee said. “You couldnt ask for a better advertising
vehicle.
Breaking Record
The Dallas Cowboys 1996 Super Bowl win against the
Pittsburgh Steelers previously held the record for most viewers,
drawing an average of 94.1 million, based on how many people
tuned in each minute during the entire game.
The audience for the Giants Super Bowl victory peaked at
105.7 million viewers between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. New York
time yesterday, just shy of the most-watched telecast ever, when
106 million people watched the finale of “M*A*S*H.
Yesterdays game, which ended the Patriots bid for an
undefeated season, was seen in an average of 43.3 percent of all
U.S. households, up from last years 42.6 percent, Fox said.
That makes it the highest-rated football championship in eight
years, Fox said.
The 1982 Super Bowl, when the San Francisco 49ers beat the
Cincinnati Bengals, had the highest rating at 49.1, when there
were fewer TV households.
About 65 percent of all households that had their TVs
turned on were watching the Giants-Patriots matchup, Fox said.
Procter %26amp; Gamble Co.s ad for Tide-to-Go featuring a
talking stain on a mans dress shirt during a job interview
rounded out the top 10 in USA Todays poll.
The Kellogg School ad review panel, run by professor
Calkins, rated the Tide commercial as the best, based on ads
that catch consumers attention and are most likely to build
brand awareness. The panel also gave “A grades to Coca-Cola,
FedEx and E*Trade.
News Corp. Class A shares, down 17 percent in the past
year, slipped 6 cents to $19.35 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock
Exchange composite trading.
