Ads have never been more expensive during the big game. Super Bowl commercials are big business, and business is good. A 30 second spot during the game this year is reaching record-highs for Fox, who is broadcasting the game. Each 30 second commercial is costing companies $7 million for Super Bowl LVII, up from $6.5 million a year ago. In total the cost of running an ad during the game has doubled in the last 10 years, with a spot in 2012 costing $3.5 million.
The origins of wild Super Bowl advertising can be traced back to 1967, when the most-watched broadcast in the United States began. It wasn’t until 1970 that companies started to create specially-designed, high-budget ads. During the 1970 Super Bowl the auto brand Prestone ran an ad featuring Bears linebacker Dick Butkus who claimed he trusted Prestone because “plugging holes is my business.” Since then other brands moved to have celebrities in their ads, or moved to have ludicrously production values attached to their ads. This includes Coca-Cola’s iconic commercial with Mean Joe Greene in 1980, and Apple’s “Macintosh 1984,” which was directed by Ridley Scott.
This year numerous ads will have big-name celebrities. Some of the ads are already available on YouTube, while others we only have information about. These include Adam Driver for SquareSpace, Maya Rudolph as the news spokescandy for M&Ms, Kevin Garnett in a new Sam Adams ad, Serena Williams for Michelob Ultra, Danny McBride in a new commercial for Downy, John Cena for Experian, and Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston renewing their characters from Breaking Bad for PopCorners.
Ads during the Super Bowl have become a spectacle of their own, and the cost of running an ad during the game is a testament to the amount of money companies are willing to spend to get their message out. So, remember that the game might pause for commercials, but the entertainment doesn’t on Sunday.
