A "number of advertisers say they paid less" than the
$1.6M average for a 30-second Super Bowl spot that Fox has
touted, according to USA TODAY's Bruce Horovitz. Horovitz:
"Media gurus are starting to spill the beans on the real
costs, which appear to be lower." Media buyer Gene DeWitt
puts the average at "about" $1.45M. Victoria's Secret CMO
Ed Razek said his company paid "under" $1.6M, and Monster.
com CEO Jeff Taylor said his company paid in the $1.3M
"range." But Fox President of Sales Jon Nesvig "insists"
that $1.6M is the average that the 32 advertisers paid for
the 59 spots: "You can say 50% are above that figure and 50%
are below. ... We're not lying about this" (USA TODAY,
1/28). J. Walter Thompson's Ron Fredrick was quoted in USA
TODAY as saying $1.6M "is a very big generalization with
lots of exceptions." But Frederick told THE DAILY this
morning that his quote was "a little misleading" and that he
didn't "agree with the premise" of the piece. Frederick
said discrepancies between Fox's figures and those of media
planners may have resulted from differences between net and
gross figures. Another possible cause for the differences
may be due to various forms of sales packaging (THE DAILY).
AD TALKIN': A survey of 1,000 adults by Eisner & Assoc.
"indicates about" 7% of the Super Bowl audience "tunes in
just to see the ads" and more than one-third "expect to
discuss them Monday morning" (DETROIT NEWS, 1/28).
UNDERDOGS? In N.Y., Stuart Elliott writes that "about a
third" of this year's Super Bowl advertisers are "attention-
seeking rookies." N.Y.-based Internet job-search service
and game newcomer Hotjobs.com President & CEO Richard
Johnson: "Buying millions of dollars' worth of banners on
Yahoo doesn't seem to impress people. But saying 'We
advertise on the Super Bowl' makes a big statement."
Philips Electronics Exec VP Ed Volkwein, another Super Bowl
"rookie," said, "The Super Bowl is the best opportunity
we'll ever have to reach roughly 40 percent of 18- to 49-
year-olds, our key target, at one time. To reach the same
unduplicated number of viewers, we would have to buy the
equivalent of 13 or 14 prime-time spots" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/28).
In N.Y., Don Kaplan notes that Philips' spot will feature
Austin Powers and HDTV technology (N.Y. POST, 1/28). The
WALL STREET JOURNAL's Sally Beatty writes that "most" of the
game's advertisers "will be trying desperately to tickle
viewers' funnybones," but that for "inexperienced newcomers,
... humor becomes an all-too obvious fallback position."
Beatty reports that Monster.com "stands out" as a company
taking a "more subtle approach" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/28).
In Boston, Chris Reidy writes that Monster.com's ad agency,
MA-based Mullen, has been "working furiously" to complete
its client's Super Bowl spot. Mullen Exec Creative Dir
Edward Boches said that it took about 2,500 hours of effort
for an ad "that took about five weeks to conceive and
complete." The black-and-white ad shows 13 children talking
about working when they grow up. One "kid" in the ad: "I
want to claw my way up to middle management." Another says,
"I want to have a brown nose." Boches said the message of
the ad is "don't settle for less" (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/28).
Another Super Bowl first-timer, Just For Feet (JFF), will
ask viewers, "How many times does Just For Feet, or JFF,
appear in the 30-second spot?" The 1,300th correct answer
to the question wins a Hummer vehicle. Answers can be
entered via the company's Web site or an 800 number (JFF).
OTHER ADS: In San Jose, Charlie McCollum wrote that
Apple Computer's spot, which touts MacIntosh's "immunity" to
the Y2K problem, "has already stirred considerable buzz" at
this month's Mac World convention and at the company's Web
site. The "relatively simple" ad, which cost $250,000 to
produce, was downloaded over 250,000 times from apple.com
(S.J. MERCURY NEWS, 1/27). "Experts" put the cost of OH-
based auto insurance company Progressive Corp.'s sponsorship
of the halftime show and 60-second game spot at about $5.6M,
about $600,000 more than it cost FL-based Royal Caribbean
cruise lines last year. Progressive "plunked down even more
money" to earn the rights to use Steven Spielberg's "ET"
likeness in its ad spots (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 1/28).
