Why Some Advertisers Pass On The Super Bowl

Added on Jan 24, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

Super Bowl

In addition to being the busiest time of the year for sports betting, the Super Bowl is the biggest event in the advertising industry. The mainstream media is full of stories about which companies are advertising, which companies have had ads rejected and what TV commercials will resonate with viewers. A less well publicized story, however, is the many companies who have advertised on the Super Bowl in the past but chose to ‘pass’ on this year’s game.

For some companies that advertised in the past couple of years, they took advantage of a softer ad market and were able to get deals that are no longer available. It takes a lot of money to place a bet on Super Bowl advertising, and in a year where demand is exceeding supply many companies have concluded that the return on investment just isn’t there.

Some advertisers have the ability to pay for a Super Bowl spot, but chose not to for a variety of reasons. Among companies that advertised in 2010 that will be absent this year are big names like Papa John’s Pizza, Dr. Pepper, Denny’s and Intel. They each have different reasons for taking a ‘pass’ on this year’s game. Papa John’s has spent a lot of money as a NFL sponsor all season and that–combined with an ambitious ‘free pizza’ giveaway promotion–has made Super Bowl advertising unnecessary according to Andrew Varga, Papa John’s marketing chief:

“We’d rather give away millions in free pizzas than spend millions on a spot. We don’t feel the need to make the investment in the game.”

Papa John’s big promotion will be an offer to give away free pizza to every American if the Super Bowl goes into overtime. To be eligible, you have to sign up for their online loyalty program before game day.
Other companies had justification for not advertising on the big game that were just corporate buzzwords and double speak. Intel said that they are looking at “different marketing vehicles”. Denny’s cited a new CEO and new ad agency who is busy developing a ‘integrated’ marketing and advertising program. Monster.com, who advertised last year, provided the head scratching suggestion that they’re ‘moving beyond building brand awareness’. Other companies point to a larger year round investment in social media campaigns which cost less and offer better ROI than one big ad on the Super Bowl.

As we’ve discussed before, a Super Bowl has never gone into overtime so based on precedent its unlikely that Papa John’s will be on the hook for an estimated 100,000 pizzas.