The Super Bowl of Hype Will Kick Off in Pasadena

Perhaps the oldest Super Bowl tradition--aside from the game often being a dud--is for advertisers to go bonkers trying to out-hype each other.

On Jan. 31, Pasadena will host what may well be the most overly commercialized Super Bowl ever. And on Feb. 1, dozens of marketers who spent many millions of dollars trying to catch the consumer’s eye may wake up and ask themselves: Why?

“Marketers seem to lose their senses at Super Bowl time,” said Jack Trout, president of the Greenwich, Conn.-based corporate image firm Trout & Ries. “More ad money is wasted on Super Bowl day than any other day of the year.”

Super Bowl advertisers are shelling out a record $850,000 for 30-second spots. That’s $28,333 per second. And that is an awful lot of money “to finance a trip to the john,” said Los Angeles ad man and radio commentator Stan Freberg.

Still, NBC has sold all of its available spots.

To be sure, the Super Bowl is the marketing event of the year. It attracts 120 million viewers--the largest audience of any TV show. And many of the viewers are young males who are otherwise tough to reach.

But a growing number of marketing experts contend that exorbitant media purchases such as the Super Bowl will become increasingly snubbed in the 1990s. Instead, more cost-conscious advertisers will turn to targeted communications--like junk mail, phone calls and faxes.

Critics say that flashy Super Bowl ads are no longer signs of smart selling--but corporate ego.

“In the ‘80s, ego was in, but in the ‘90s, showing off is a negative, not a positive,” said Clive Chajet, chairman of the New York corporate image firm, Lippincott & Margulies.

But the biggest Super Bowl advertiser, Anheuser-Busch, bristles at the notion that ego is behind its extravagant “Bud Bowl V” promotion--its largest production project ever.

“Our shareholders would not let us make decisions based on our egos,” said August Busch IV, vice president of Budweiser brands and son of the company’s chairman.

The 1992 Bud Bowl extravaganza helped boost the company’s January beer sales by 46% over the year before, Busch said.

The new spots feature former New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath and “L.A. Law” star Corbin Bernsen coaching animated “teams” of Budweiser and Bud Lite bottles.

“The Super Bowl is the place for us to be if we want to sell beer,” Busch said.

Indeed, many of the biggest consumer brands have already suited up. For the first time in half a dozen years, the two major brewers--Anheuser-Busch and Miller--will go head-to-head with Super Bowl campaigns.

Reebok will introduce a new worldwide campaign and Nike will air new spots. Pepsi has a handful of flashy ads--including several “new age” ads for its new Crystal Pepsi.

Many will shoulder ad budgets that only a Super Bowl can unleash.

Anheuser-Busch has purchased a whopping five minutes of air time, and Pepsi has purchased four minutes. Miller spent $3 million for the privilege of calling itself the “official beer” of the Super Bowl.

But Frito-Lay, which is spending an estimated $7 million to sponsor the game’s halftime show featuring pop star Michael Jackson, is the biggest overall sponsor of the 1993 Super Bowl.

Frito-Lay was in Los Angeles last week filming costly spots filled with NFL stars and coaches, including Los Angeles Raider defensive lineman Howie Long and Cincinnati Bengal quarterback Boomer Esiason.

The players take the “Lay’s Challenge”--a taste test pitting Lay’s chips against regional brands--from former NFL coaches Tom Landry and Mike Ditka.

Although each advertiser is quick to justify its own purchase of Super Bowl broadcast time, several criticized other sponsors.

“If you don’t have something brand new to say,” said Steve Liguori, Frito-Lay’s vice president of marketing, “any serious marketer would have to question why you’d spend that kind of money.”

According to Scott Purvis, president of the Princeton, N.J.-based research firm Gallup & Robinson: “The last thing an advertiser wants to do is to spend $850,000 per 30-second commercial and come away with less than favorable ratings.”

“If you have a weak commercial, you can waste a ton of money,” said Scott Bedbury, director of advertising at Nike, which will run a 90-second commercial that features Michael Jordan and Warner Bros. cartoon character “Marvin the Martian.”

In the animated spot, which takes place on Mars, Jordan (“His Airness”) tries to prove there is air on the green planet.

Nike’s last Super Bowl spot, featuring Jordan and Bugs Bunny, rated top among consumers polled by USA Today after the game. Bedbury hopes this year’s spot creates the same buzz.

But not all ads receive such media attention--despite big production costs. “Some advertisers will spend millions on Spielberg-esque productions,” said Russ Klein, senior vice president of marketing at 7-Up, which will air three spots during the fourth quarter. “I’ll never understand those ads that are simply trying to move the needle on the applause meter.”

Fans attending the game will be deluged with marketing, from the parking lot to the sky.

Flying over its first Super Bowl will be the “Bud One” blimp--beaming field shots back to viewers. Fans who page through the biggest-ever Super Bowl program will find more than 100 pages of ads that cost most advertisers $30,000 per page.

And in a 700,000-square-foot lot across from the Rose Bowl, an exhibition called the “NFL Experience” will try to lure fans with an amusement park-like football fantasy land to raise money for charity.

For the first time, NFL Properties--which oversees Super Bowl sponsorships and licensing agreements--is “packaging” three-way marketing partnerships among itself, NBC and the sponsors of this year’s game, said Don Garber, NFL Properties’ vice president of development.

Instead of just buying TV time, for example, sponsors such as Frito-Lay are heavily involved with on-site promotions and also linked with pre-game events.

Some liquor firms--which aren’t allowed to advertise on TV--have found other ways to tie in to the game. Jose Cuervo Tequila is promoting a sweepstakes for a weekend in Cancun, Mexico.

What’s the Super Bowl connection? The “Cuervo Margarita Bowl,” of course. Eight winners have been selected to play a flag football game on the beach in Cancun against eight former NFL stars. What does the winner get? “A trophy,” a spokesman said.

Briefly . . .

The Los Angeles agency Fraser & Associates has selected Inter/Media Advertising of Encino to handle its $12-million media buying account for Westlake-based 1-800-CAR SEARCH. . . .The Los Angeles media buying firm International Communications Group has been handed the $1-million broadcast media budget for the Los Angeles wholesale grocer Smart & Final. . . . A new ad agency with a specialty in real estate, SKLA Advertising, has opened in Los Angeles. . . . Foote, Cone & Belding/Orange County, has laid off 24 employees--almost 10% of its work force. . . . Ross Perot will appear in TV ads later this month for United We Stand, the citizens group he has started.

Super Hype

These are the announced major TV advertisers for the Super Bowl in Pasadena, to be broadcast on NBC on Jan. 31. Many of them paid $850,000 for each 30-second segment.

Pepsi-Cola: Four minutes of ad time and national introduction of Crystal Pepsi.

7-Up Co.: Three 30-second “uncola” spots.

Reebok: Four 30-second spots to unveil global ad campaign for new corporate image.

Nike: One 90-second spot for Air Jordan line with Michael Jordan and Warner Bros.’ “Marvin the Martian.”

Anheuser-Busch: Four minutes of ad time for “Bud Bowl V”; 60 seconds of “responsible drinking” ads.

Miller Brewing Co.: Two 30-second spots promoting Miller, Miller Lite beers.

Subaru of America: Six 15-second teaser spots to introduce new Impreza subcompact.

Lincoln-Mercury Division: 30-second ad for rollout of Lincoln Mark VIII luxury coupe.

Gillette Co.: Three spots to introduce “Gillette Series” men’s toiletries.

McDonald’s: 90 seconds of ad time, primarily for big hamburger promotion.

Frito-Lay: Sponsor of half-time show, with Lays potato chip ads featuring NFL stars in “Lays Challenge.”

Master Lock: 30-second spot promoting new line of locks.