Honda Joins Super Bowl Ad Roster; NFL Names Contest Winner

Honda is the latest advertiser to buy ad time during CBS’ Super Bowl XLI broadcast, joining AIG, Anheuser-Busch, Chevrolet, Doritos, FedEx and PepsiCo, according to Claire Atkinson of AD AGE. Honda’s media agency is RPA, Santa Monica. Meanwhile, Sprint Nextel “said it was still considering whether to buy a spot, while Burger King, which is running a sweepstakes for a chance to win tickets to the game, is also expected to buy airtime” (ADAGE.com, 1/7).

Gino Bona Wins Contest For NFL’s Consumer-Created Super Bowl Ad

WE HAVE A WINNER: USA TODAY’s Laura Petracca reports that Gino Bona, a Bills fan and director of business development for a Maine-based marketing firm, has won the NFL’s contest for a consumer-created commercial that will air during CBS’ Super Bowl broadcast. About 1,700 fans auditioned ideas for the ad. Bona said that he “tapped into his own ‘pathetic emotions’ for the idea: a tongue-in-cheek take on the heavy heart fans have when the NFL season ends.” Bona’s ideas for ad images include a foam No. 1 finger “slowly being stowed in a closet, a [Patriots] fan sadly washing off his face paint and a group of game-watchers getting a season-long bar tab of $6,000.” He proposed the Boyz II Men song “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” as the soundtrack. A jury of NFL execs, players and ad professors picked 12 finalists. Fans were able “to view finalists’ pitches online and pick a favorite.” Fan votes; a group of league execs; and a panel made up of NFL Senior VP/Marketing Lisa Baird, actor Don Cheadle, who has appeared in NFL ads, and commercial director Joe Pytka, each counted one-third toward the winner. Bona has “done some copywriting for brochures and wrote a humorous sports column for ESPN.com.” For winning the contest he “gets a trip to [L.A.] next week to watch Pytka film his idea,” and he and a companion will be guests of the NFL for the Super Bowl in Miami (USA TODAY, 1/9).