CBS Sells Out Super Bowl Ad Time, With Some Spots Going For Over $4M

CBS yesterday said that it “had sold all the available commercial time” for its broadcast of Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3 unless a marketer "wants so much to be included that money is no object,” according to Stuart Elliott of the N.Y. TIMES. CBS President & CEO Leslie Moonves said, “If one of those movie companies wants to come in and pay five or six million, we will find room.” Ad agency execs said that CBS has “sold most of its Super Bowl spots” for an average of $3.7-3.8M for each 30 seconds. However, Moonves noted, “We have sold some of our spots for over $4 million.” Meanwhile, Elliott reports Paramount will air a national trailer for "Star Trek Into Darkness" during the "second quarter of the game.” Viewers who prior to the game download an app will be able to “unlock special content during the commercial and be entered into a sweepstakes.” There are usually “60 to 70 half-minute ad slots during each game, plus promotional spots for the network carrying the game.” Moonves said that the net “hopes to include a promotion for ‘Late Show With David Letterman,’” as it did in ’07 and ’10. The high price of Super Bowl spots “also applies to commercials on local stations owned by or affiliated with the network broadcasting the game.” Moonves said that “some 30-second commercials in the game on WCBS-TV in New York, owned by CBS, have been sold” for over $1M (N.Y. TIMES, 1/9). USA TODAY’s Michael Hiestand writes Moonves “will not disclose who bought” the ads costing more than $4M, which “is a record.” But Moonves said, “You see a new record for Super Bowl spots every year” (USA TODAY, 1/9). Meanwhile, CBSSports.com Senior VP & GM Jason Kint said that the company's digital unit is "close to selling out its advertising inventory as well" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 1/8).

RING THE BELL: AD AGE’s Maureen Morrison reported Taco Bell is “advertising in the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010.” The spot is being created by Deutsch, L.A., and is “the first spot for Taco Bell created by the agency.” The 60-second ad is “believed to be brand-focused.” The company’s "Live Mas" tagline, which “made its debut less than a year ago, will also be in the spot.” Most QSRs have “been quiet on the Super Bowl national ad front," as it has been “a couple years since a chain made a national buy” (ADAGE.com, 1/8).

"STYLE" POINTS: USA TODAY's Bruce Horovitz reports singer Psy “will star in a Super Bowl commercial for Wonderful Pistachios.” The commercial, filmed yesterday in North Hollywood, is the brand’s “first Super Bowl ad and will be Psy’s first ad aired in the U.S.” In the ad, Psy “wears a pistachio-green suit and will display a special way to crack open pistachios.” Psy said that his song “Gangnam Style” will “appear with different words in the 30-second commercial” (USA TODAY, 1/9).

DRIVING BACK FOR ANOTHER: AD AGE’s Brian Steinberg cited sources as saying that Chrysler, which has “stood out among advertisers in the past two Super Bowls with attention-grabbing commercials talking about economic revival in America and Detroit, will return to the game in 2013.” Chrysler in the past two years has “run ads about two minutes long, about four times the length of typical commercials in the Super Bowl or elsewhere.” The special commercials in some cases “forced the TV networks broadcasting the game to rearrange the Super Bowl ad lineup at the last minute and required other sponsors' flexibility about where their ads appear during the game” (ADAGE.com, 1/8).

ROLL FILM: In Detroit, Alisa Priddle reports Ford's Lincoln division yesterday "started shooting" the ad it plans to air during the Super Bowl. Ford Exec VP/Global Marketing, Sales & Service Jim Farley when asked if comedian Jimmy Fallon will make a cameo in the 60-second spot said, "We'll see" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 1/9).