Sunday Night Music Club: Sheryl Crow On Revlon Super Bowl Ad

Revlon has bought its first Super Bowl ad ever, and it will promote the launch of its Colorist line with a 60-second spot featuring singer Sheryl Crow during the third quarter of CBS’ broadcast, according to Vranica & Byron of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The spot features Crow’s upcoming single “Not Fade Away,” a cover of the Buddy Holly classic. Endeavor handles ad work for Revlon and the Colorist line. While many “female-oriented marketers steer clear of the broadcast, whose audience is roughly 56% male, and instead buy time on the Oscars,” Revlon Chair Ron Perelman said that the company no longer advertises on the Academy Awards “partly because ‘we were surrounded by spots for other beauty products.’” Perelman added that the Super Bowl “was attractive because it coincided with Colorist’s product launch date” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/30).

NATIONWIDE: In N.Y., Holly Sanders reports Nationwide bought its 30-second Super Bowl ad “directly from the NFL and got a 16-person suite on the 20-yard line and hotel accommodations in Miami in exchange.” Nationwide VP/Advertising & Brand Management Steven Schreibman said the deal with the NFL has “given us amazing added value that resulted in us going to Miami.” Sanders notes that in addition to ad inventory during the halftime show, the NFL “reserves two spots for the advertiser that sponsors the halftime show ... and splits the ad revenue with the network.” PepsiCo, which is sponsoring Prince’s halftime performance, “decided it didn’t want the two extra spots.” The NFL ended up with one of the spots, which it sold directly to Nationwide (N.Y. POST, 1/30).

Snickers Airing First Super Bowl Spot Since ‘01

MOVIE STUDIOS: DAILY VARIETY’s Hayes & Learmonth report Lionsgate and Disney are the only two movie studios that have bought in-game Super Bowl ads so far. Lionsgate plans on advertising “Pride,” a movie starring Terrence Howard and Bernie Mac about an “inner-city teacher who turns troubled kids into champion swimmers.” Disney will promote “Wild Hogs,” a comedy starring John Travolta, Tim Allen and Martin Lawrence. Paramount will sponsor an hour of CBS’ six-hour pregame show to promote “Norbit,” starring Eddie Murphy. Sony will air an ad for “Ghost Rider” starring Nicolas Cage during the pregame show. Network and studio execs said that a “couple of studios are in talks with CBS over the last remaining fourth-quarter spots.” However, Universal, Sony and Warner Bros. “have deliberately avoided” the Super Bowl, choosing instead to advertise on primetime network programming (DAILY VARIETY, 1/30). Disney is also “likely” to promote its film “Meet the Robinsons” during the broadcast (ADAGE.com, 1/26).

GO DADDY: CBS approved the third ad submission from GoDaddy.com. The company has bought three ad slots during CBS’ telecast, and its ads will star IRL driver Danica Patrick, the Teutel family and company spokesmodel Candice Michelle (GoDaddy). The spots will air in the sixth and 22nd commercial breaks, with the third airing during the postgame show. The ad features an executive “walking down a typical office hallway and talking about Go Daddy. When he opens the door to the marketing department ... [Michelle is] dancing in the midst of a partying crowd” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/30). GoDaddy.com Founder Bob Parsons in his blog wrote, “In order to get our commercial approved by CBS, we had to make a number of adjustments. Even though we made these changes, I’m confident that Super Bowl viewers will still find the approved commercial to be GoDaddyEsque.” An extended version of the ad will be available on the company’s Web site. Links for the two rejected spots are already available on the site (BOBPARSONS.com, 1/29).

SNICKERS: Snickers’ first Super Bowl ad since ’01, via TBWA/Chiat/Day, N.Y., is scheduled to run in the first half. Fans can preview the first few seconds of the spot at SnickersSatisfies.com, and then see the full ad and three alternate endings after the game. Several players in the game, including Bears QB Rex Grossman and DE Alex Brown, as well as Colts WR Marvin Harrison and DE Dwight Freeney, have previewed the ad and various endings, and Snickers’ press release includes the players’ positive reviews of the spot (THE DAILY).

NFL Network Spot To Include Janet Reno (l) And Warren Sapp

WE’RE HAVING A PARTY: NFL Network’s 30-second spot, via Triple Double, L.A., will star Bengals WR Chad Johnson hosting a Super Bowl party for his friends. “Hanging with Chad,” also will feature Real Madrid MF David Beckham, Saints RB Reggie Bush, Cardinals RB Edgerrin James, Raiders DT Warren Sapp, musicians LL Cool J and Rascal Flatts, actor Jimmy Fallon, Martha Stewart and former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno (NFL).

SITTING THIS ONE OUT: Eli Lilly will not advertise on the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. The company promoted its Cialis brand in ’04 and ’05, but “no longer promotes Cialis on shows when young people are likely to be viewing” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 1/30). Unilever and Procter & Gamble will also sit out the broadcast. Unilever’s Dove brand ran a 45-second spot last year, but opted instead for the Academy Awards this year. The company’s Degree brand has also appeared on the last two Super Bowls, but is running a TV and Webisode campaign around Fox’ “24.” Gillette has aired an ad in two of the last three Super Bowls, but a P&G source said that the brand is “planning to announce a major global sports-marketing initiative early next month.” Microsoft is also forgoing the game (AD AGE, 1/29 issue). Burger King will also not advertise during the telecast, instead focusing on an in-store, NFL-themed promo called “Feed Your Inner Champion” (PROMO, 1/ ’07 issue).

COUNTDOWN TO NO. 1: ROLLINGSTONE.com all week is offering its take on the 25 best Super Bowl commercials in history. The site is unveiling five ads per day, complete with video of the spot (THE DAILY).

LOCAL ADS: Boston-based Eastern Bank will debut a new marketing campaign with local ads before, during and after the broadcast on WBZ-CBS. Media buyers estimate a local 30-second spot costs $150,000, compared to $5,000-7,000 during a regular primetime night, and $20,000-30,000 for a regular-season Patriots game. The bank’s 60-second spot via Conover Tuttle Pace, Boston, features former NFL QB Doug Flutie, as well as footage of Rocky Marciano (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/30).
CANADA: In Toronto, William Houston reports Global TV has sold out of Super Bowl XLI inventory. The net has been charging around C$99,800 for a 30-second spot, up C$3,000 from last year (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/30).