PepsiCo will "devote the bulk" of its ad time during
ABC's broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIV to its Mountain Dew
brand, according to Greg Farrell of USA TODAY, who reports
that the company is "planning to run at least two" Mountain
Dew spots. The Mountain Dew brand "accounted for" 25% of
PepsiCo's '99 domestic beverage sales, compared to 17% in
'93, and has "pulled ahead of Diet Coke to become the third-
best-selling beverage in the take-home category." Merrill
Lynch Senior Beverage Analyst Manny Goldman, on PepsiCo
focusing Super Bowl efforts on Mountain Dew: "This is
noteworthy. If you look at the Super Bowl in past years,
it's where Pepsi has done some of its best advertising. But
Mountain Dew has been a double-digit grower, and you fish
where the fish are" (USA TODAY, 1/24).
BIG WINNER? In N.Y., Joe Flint reports that the
"biggest advertiser during ABC's coverage" of the Super Bowl
"may very well be ABC itself," as a "battalion of Super
Bowl-themed" promos for the net's programs will air during
the game, as well as in pre- and post-game programming.
While ABC "won't say just how many" promotional spots will
run, sources said that the net has "produced 40 to 50
different spots." But the number of spots "actually making
the air will depend on factors such as how long the game
continues." Tom Miller, whose promotions and marketing firm
has worked for ABC, said that ABC may spend over $100M in
"promotion time" during the coverage (WSJ, 1/24).
RUNNING RIGHT AT 'EM: AD AGE reports that DLJ Direct
will launch an ad campaign via Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners
Wednesday "to back a Super Bowl-theme" promo, but the
company will not run an ad during the game. Print and TV
ads will "tout the commission-free trading that will be
available" through dljdirect.com "only on Super Bowl
Sunday." The TV spots ask, "Why invest $2 million on one ad
in the Super Bowl, when we could invest it on you?" (AD AGE,
1/22). Kirshenbaum Bond co-Chair Jonathon Bond, on his
client's move: "Nothing makes Madison Avenue look as
excessive as all the Super Bowl ads. ... There's almost a
better opportunity to go against the Super Bowl than to be
on it" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/24).
