Lesser-Known Advertisers Taking Plunge Into Super Bowl XLIV

Flo TV One Of About Nine First-Time Advertisers In This Year's Super Bowl

CBS' telecast of Saints-Colts Super Bowl XLIV will be "packed with first-time Super Bowl advertisers" as the economic downturn has led some bigger corporations to "bypass the gridiron matchup this year," according to Suzanne Vranica of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Several "little-known advertisers -- including mobile pay-TV firm Flo TV, information provider KGB and vacation rental service HomeAway.com -- are forking over millions of dollars to appear on this year's Big Game broadcast." Other companies making their Super Bowl debut include TruTV, EA, Boost Mobile and Kia Motors. TNS Media Intelligence noted that "so far there are about nine newcomers" to the game, up from "about five" last season. Vranica notes Flo TV has enlisted CBS Sports' Jim Nantz and James Brown to "appear in one of its spots that features a man unable to watch the game because he is stuck shopping for bras with his wife." The company, which will be "pitching a pocket-size device for watching TV on the go," also plans to run a second ad "depicting historical events, such as Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech, accompanied by a remake" of The Who's "My Generation" by the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am. KGB, which "answers consumer questions via text message for 99 cents a apiece, is still deciding which ad it will run." One shows actors William and Stephen Baldwin "jumping out of a plane, while another features two women trying to find a clown to appear at their kids' birthdays" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/25).

GOING HEAD-TO-HEAD: In N.Y., Stuart Elliott notes the Super Bowl pits marketers "against one another in competitive categories like automobiles, credit cards, fast food and online services." In recent years, among the "best confrontations have been those between the job-search Web sites." CareerBuilder will make its sixth Super Bowl appearance, with a "spot scheduled for the second quarter that is to be based on an idea submitted by a consumer in a contest called Hire My TV Ad." Rival Monster.com's spot scheduled for the first quarter features a "beaver with a musical talent." The Monster ad, via BBDO, N.Y., will be the "second spot in a new campaign." The first ad debuted yesterday during CBS' coverage of the Colts-Jets AFC Championship game. Monster Exec VP & Chief Global Marketing Officer Ted Gilvar said, "This year people tell us they're tired of the bad news, and they're more optimistic. They want two things: They want help and they want hope." Elliott lists other "category wars to be waged" during the February 7 game (N.Y. TIMES, 1/25).

CATEGORY	BRANDS
Automobiles	Audi, Dodge, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen
Movies	Paramount, Universal, Walt Disney
Restaurants	Denny's, Taco Bell
Snacks	Doritos, Mars, Pop-Secret
Soft Drinks	Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper Cherry

UNDER THE GUN: Former Univ. of Florida QB Tim Tebow yesterday said that his decision to appear in a 30-second spot for Christian group Focus on the Family will "not be universally accepted," but noted that he "wasn't going to shy away from an issue that was important to him." Tebow: "I know some people won’t agree with it, but I think they can at least respect that I stand up for what I believe and I’m never shy about that. I don’t feel like I’m very preachy about it, but I do stand up for what I believe and at least you can respect that." He added, "Unfortunately in today’s society not many athletes tend to do that, at least stand for something." Tebow said of the spot, "I’m just standing for something and I’ve always been very convicted of it. That’s the reason I’m here because my mom was a very courageous woman and wouldn’t (have an abortion)" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 1/25). FanHouse.com's Clay Travis said the "key to understanding why" CBS agreed to air the commercial "definitely lies with Tebow." Travis: "Without him I don't think that CBS would have agreed [to run] the ad. ... It opens the way for Super Bowl ads to become what they've never been -- political" (Manchester GUARDIAN, 1/25). In Orlando, Mike Bianchi wrote, "If Tim Tebow wants to appear on a pro-life political commercial during the Super Bowl then more power to him, I just wish he wasn't making the commercial for an organization founded by James Dobson, an ultra-conservative religious zealot" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/23).

RIGHT ON TARGET: In St. Paul, Charley Walters reported the Twins have been "tweaking an animated 30-second TV commercial that will debut" locally near the end of the first half of the Super Bowl (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 1/24).