Anheuser-Busch will pay ABC $17M for ten 30-second
spots on this month's Super Bowl XXXIV broadcast, but the
company's total investment in its Super Bowl effort is
"closer" to $30M, according to Melanie Wells of FORBES. A-B
has had 400 people at its ad agencies and production
companies "working on and off for six months on what to
broadcast" during the game, and Wells writes the significant
investment "buys several guarantees," including the "coveted
first commercial break after kickoff," beer category
exclusivity and four mentions of the Budweiser blimp by
ABC's game announcers. Despite the guarantees, "there are
risks" for A-B, as the company "wants to exploit" the Super
Bowl "to position Budweiser as a more upscale brew." A-B
CMO August Busch IV "hopes" that an "emotional" spot
featuring the birth of a Clydesdale will help A-B "make a
classy stand against the eye-grabbing ads" of the dot-coms,
but he is "having a hard time letting go" of the lizard
concept. Busch: "There's a bit of a balancing act going on.
We need to make our ad formula work for a more sophisticated
Budweiser." This month, A-B has "screened" around 30 spots
produced from 70 "concepts pitched" for the game. Wells
reports that one ad being considered "might raise eyebrows,"
as it features a "man who's being shot from a cannon into a
net" becoming a "human suppository for an elephant when his
partner is distracted by a Bud Light vendor" (FORBES, 1/24).
SUPER AD? In Chicago, George Lazarus cited "reliable
sources" who say that John Nuveen & Co.'s 60-second Super
Bowl spot via Fallon-McElligott includes actor Christopher
Reeve. Nuveen has said the spot would be an "inspirational
message," and Lazarus wrote that having Reeve in the spot
"would be memorable." The spot "reportedly cost" $5M, and
sources told Lazarus that production costs "might have" been
$600,000 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 1/12).
YOU GOTTA HAVE FAITH: Houston-based jewelry and watch
retailer Ashford.com has "scored a Super Bowl coup" by
"slipping its signature" 15-carat diamond "into the pregame
broadcast for as much as a minute." Singer/actress Faith
Hill has "agreed to wear" the diamond while she sings the
national anthem (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/13).
