As I have said before, nothing more than a sinkhole for richers with more wealth than they know what to do with. Just another way of hiding and spending it to keep it from the masses (and maybe make a buck off 'em, too).
"Advertisers hope to score big; Some stalwarts pass on big game commercials while first-timers root for glory" by Brian Steinberg, Globe Correspondent | January 24, 2009
.... As the economy continues to crumble, so have the desires of some longstanding marketers to run commercials in the game. FedEx, which has run ads in 18 Super Bowls since 1989, will be absent this year. And only Anheuser-Busch and PepsiCo have spent more than General Motors on Super Bowl ads between 1998 and 2007, according to market researcher TNS.
But GM won't appear in the coming Super Bowl. For that matter, no US automaker is expected to appear, an obvious nod to economic issues that are crippling the auto industry.
No, that wouldn't look good: BAILOUT MONEY being used for ADVERTISEMENTS!
At present, the only family restaurant advertiser that has said it will have a presence in the game is Denny's, though others may come forward in the next few days. In the past, the game has attracted such fast-food stalwarts as McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, and Quiznos. Likewise, no pharmaceutical marketer has said it will have a Super Bowl presence; in years past, the Super Bowl hosted a battle of the erectile-dysfunction drugs Cialis and Levitra. Additionally, aside from E-Trade, few financial-services companies have lined up to advertise....
Same reason as GM.
There's certainly good reason for some advertisers to stay clear of the Super Bowl in these tough economic times. Advertising time in this pigskin classic is among the costliest on television. NBC, which is broadcasting the Super Bowl for the first time 1998, sought around $3 million last spring and summer per 30-second spot, a record sum, compared to last year's initial asking price of around $2.7 million. The network found sales were brisk, and unloaded around 85 percent of its inventory by early fall. Since that time, however, activity slowed....
What, are we supposed to be grieving for the TV networks now?
