Super Bowl Ads: Boost Mobile Keeps Shuffling Toward SB Debut

Boost Mobile Bringing Back '85 Bears For Its Debut Super Bowl Spot

Several members of the '85 Bears are reuniting for a remake of their famous "Super Bowl Shuffle" as part of a Boost Mobile ad airing during Super Bowl XLIV, and the spot "is a can't-miss," according to Ed Sherman of CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS. Not everyone from the original video will be present -- Walter Payton passed away in '99 and "various aliments have hampered" William "The Refrigerator" Perry -- but Sprint Prepaid Group VP/Marketing Bob Stohrer said that other players "were eager to get back into the spotlight." The players "all wear No. 50" in the ad, as the Boost service they are promoting costs $50 per month. The company is making its Super Bowl ad debut, and Stohrer said, "The challenge is what do you do with something like the Super Bowl? The 'Shuffle' is something we went to quickly. It's a classic. We knew people would identify with the guys." Sherman notes in addition to the 30-second in-game spot, Boost "plans to drive people to its website by airing a 4-minute version of the new shuffle." Stohrer: "One of the challenges was getting the ad down to 30 seconds. ... We hope people will go on line because there's a lot of great moments to see" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 2/3).

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE: AD AGE's Brian Steinberg reports Diamond Foods plans to use its 30-second spot during the Super Bowl to "promote two different products -- its Pop-Secret popcorn and its Emerald Nuts -- in the same instance." Diamond is "aiming for an overall concept that rides hard over its individual snack products." Diamond Foods Exec VP & CMO Andrew Burke said that the spot "will feature a dolphin trainer at a marine theme park," as well as the phrase "Awesome + Awesome = Awesomer." Burke said the ad is "all about the extravagant lengths that consumers go to for these two great snack products" (ADAGE.com, 2/3).

HIS NAME WAS LOLA: Go Daddy Founder & CEO Bob Parsons appeared on Fox Business last night to discuss the company's Super Bowl effort. Go Daddy submitted an ad titled "Lola" that was rejected by CBS, and Fox Business' David Asman noted some people "make the claim that sometimes you just make ads knowing that they'll be rejected for the buzz." Parsons: "That's nonsense. It's an easy thing to say but I'll tell you, particularly with our 'Lola' ad, that ad has got to be one of the most innocent, least offensive ads we have ever done." He added CBS "said that the ad has the potential to offend a certain group of viewers. They never said who that group of viewers was." After one of Go Daddy's two Super Bowl ads was aired, Asman said, "I've seen racier Go Daddy ads before. ... It seems like you're getting a little more tame." Parsons: "I am maturing" ("America's Nightly Scoreboard," Fox Business, 2/2).

SNEAK PEAK: Juma Entertainment President Bob Horowitz, who has had a "peek at quite a few" of this year's Super Bowl ads, said that there is a "lot of frat house humor in this year's ad roster -- something that seems ... expected on Super Sunday." Horowitz predicted that CareerBuilder.com and GoDaddy "will be water cooler fodder in offices around the country Monday morning." He added CareerBuilder "pushes the envelope" this year (BROADCASTINGCABLE.com, 2/2).

Watch Mosaic's "Casket" Spot

LIGHTER MESSAGE: The AP's Gillian Flaccus reported Mosaic, a 3,000-member church in L.A., is "one of six finalists in the Doritos 'Crash the Super Bowl' challenge with a lighthearted spoof that plays off the resurrection of Jesus Christ." If the church's ad, "Casket," is "among the top three vote-getters in an online playoff, it will air" during the Super Bowl. Mosaic, which boasts a congregation "full of hip twentysomethings who mostly work in the film industry and make short films for a hobby," is "taking a different tack" toward its ad than Focus on the Family, whose ad during the game is rumored to include pro-life messages (AP, 2/2).

IS IT ALL FOR NAUGHT? The HUFFINGTON POST's Rob Asghar wrote, "No rational, empirical evidence suggests that the $2[B] spent on Super Bowl advertising over the past two decades, or the $150[B] spent annually on advertising in the United States, is an overall economic boon. On the other hand, plenty of rational evidence exists that advertising works against the interests of Joe Sixpack and the Anheuser Busch executives who woo him each year on Super Sunday" (HUFFINGTONPOST.com, 2/2).

LOCAL AFFILS BOOMING: BROADCASTING & CABLE's Michael Malone reports CBS affiliates airing the Super Bowl "await a giant viewership and advertising windfall." New Orleans' WWL-CBS President & GM Bud Brown said that the station "sold out its inventory early last week, the spots commanding a 30% premium thanks to the Saints being in the big game." Meanwhile, Indianapolis' WISH-CBS President & GM Jeff White said that the station's spots are "going for about double what they would for a non-Colts Super Bowl" (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 2/1 issue).