Super Bowl Ads: CBS Sells Out Remaining Inventory For Big Game

CBS yesterday said that it has "sold out of ads for the Super Bowl" at average prices that are "better than last year, with some 30-second spots" topping $3M, according to the AP. CBS said that the final spot sold yesterday morning, which is a "few days ahead of schedule." NBC last year "still had two 30-second spots remaining two days before the game as the economy was mired in a recession, and announced only on the eve of the game that it sold out a total 69 spots." CBS last month indicated that it would sell 62 spots for Sunday's game, but Senior VP/Communications Dana McClintock said that the inventory "grew over time and the final number of spots is 'very close' to what NBC sold last year." CBS President of Network Sales Jo Ann Ross noted that some pregame spots are still available (AP, 2/1). In N.Y., Holly Sanders Ware notes selling out six days in advance of the Super Bowl is "even more surprising given that two of the game's biggest advertisers, Pepsi and General Motors, decided to sit out this year's game" (N.Y. POST, 2/2). CBS said that it was "able to hold the line on its prices and didn't have to drop rates to attract last-minute buyers." Ross: "We have had a healthy sales effort, and the game is full of blue-chip advertisers." In L.A., Meg James noted several "first-time advertisers are in the lineup," including Kia Motors America, Flo TV and KGB texting information service. No major banks will advertise, and the "only financial services firm will be E-Trade." Meanwhile, Teleflora is returning for the second-straight year after buying a sport "early on" in the sales process. Teleflora Chair Lynda Resnick: "CBS tried to buy the time back from us, at a premium, but we wouldn't give it up" (LATIMES.com, 2/1).

Watch Go Daddy's "Lola" Clip

WALKING A THIN LINE: In L.A., Dan Neil notes CBS appears to be "choosing sides in the social values scrimmage" by accepting a reportedly pro-life spot from Focus on the Family and electing "not to air a Super Bowl ad for gay dating service ManCrunch.com." The ManCrunch bid appears to be a "hoax, designed to generate free publicity." The site has been active for only a month, so to "expect to waltz into the Super Bowl lineup with its cheeky ad for a gay dating service seems pretty naive." But Neil writes "in a way, it almost doesn't matter whether the ManCrunch.com effort is genuine, since the issues its ad raises are." CBS also rejected a proposed ad from GoDaddy.com, titled "Lola," which portrays an "outrageous queenie character, depicted as a retired professional football player, who markets his own sexy lingerie company" by using the Web site. That leaves open the "possibility that CBS found the mincing gay stereotype offensive," and whether it is "offensive to gays or straights, or both, isn't clear" (L.A. TIMES, 2/2). In DC, Dan Levy wrote, "There is a double standard there. If you let in the pro-life group, why not let in a seemingly innocuous ad insinuating a former NFL player is gay in his life after football?" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 2/1). However, a CBS source maintains that accepting the Focus on the Family spot has "nothing to do with a political agenda." The source said, "We were not looking for a conservative ad. We would have taken a pro-choice ad if one came our way" (ADWEEK.com, 2/1).

ULTIMATELY UP TO CBS: Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff said CBS has the "ability to pick and choose” the ads it airs during the game. Wolff: “That's the point that's going on here. … Which offends our audience less? Which will create less controversy or actually, quite possibly which will create more controversy?" He added, "There are no real standards. A good question is, 'Who's doing the choosing?'" CNBC’s Dennis Kneale rhetorically asked, "If they tripled the price, would CBS accept the ad?" ("Power Lunch," CNBC, 2/1).