Contact: Russ White, University Relations, (517) 432-0923, whiterus@msu.edu
1/31/2005
For the eighth consecutive year, Michigan State University�s advertising faculty will meet to grade the best and worst television commercials broadcast during the Super Bowl. This year�s Super Bowl XXXIX is set for Sunday, Feb. 6.
Using a traditional A through F scale, each participating faculty member will grade the ads for creativity, strategy, execution and production values. They will judge each ad in real time as the spots are viewed.
The $2.4 million average price for a half-minute ad in this year�s game is a 6 percent increase from 2004 and more than double the cost from a decade ago.
The Super Bowl, the most widely watched television event in the United States, has long commanded the highest ad rates of any television program. By way of comparison, 30-second ads on prime time typically run about $400,000, though it's worth noting that last year's NBC �Friends� finale cost advertisers $2 million a slot.
With more than 90 million viewers tuning in, most advertisers aren't blinking at the steep price tag.
�No other advertising is as costly because the audience is so vast,� said MSU advertising professor Bruce Vanden Bergh. �The bar of creative excellence is very high, as are the expectations.
�The companies and agencies who generate positive buzz for their products in the Super Bowl spend the money to make creative ads that impact the game�s audience and their potential customers. You have to be hip and funny and grab viewers� attention or you�re going to lose a big audience and damage your brand.�
MSU�s Super Bowl television ad grades will be available and distributed immediately following the game.
[Editor�s Note: The Super Bowl ad party begins at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6. Media wishing to attend or to schedule interviews with professors should contact Russ White at (517) 432-0923 by Friday, Feb. 4.]