Over the course of a generation, Super Bowl viewers have gone from being inundated with food and beverage commercials to cars and tech, according to an SBJ/SBD analysis of data from Kantar Media. From '95-98, Pepsi's sodas and snacks made up the biggest share of ad time (roughly one-fifth) during the game. From '02-06, Anheuser-Busch dominated the breaks. But since '10, the auto industry has become the king of the commercials, peaking in '11 with 41% of all ad spending that year. Fiat Chrysler has lead the category, spending $112M over the past six Super Bowls. Last year the tech category made up 21% of the game’s ad spending, more than food, beverage and beer combined. Microsoft, an NFL partner, led the category with two 60-second spots.
LOOKING AT TRENDS: Financial ads dominated in '99, as 19% of the ad revenue generated came from financial services, the most of any category that year, and the most ever by that category. First Union led the category with a $6.4M spend. AmEx, Mastercard and Visa (an NFL partner) each had a spot in '99. AmEx has not advertised in the game since, and last year Discover became the first credit card brand to advertise in the Big Game since '06. Erectile dysfunction ads were big in '04, as NFL sponsor Levitra aired a spot that featured Pro Football HOFer Mike Ditka. Rival Cialis had an ad too. Pharma ads made up 12% of all spending that year -- three times its usual ratio dating back to '95. The auto industry was the big Super Bowl ad player during the '11 game. Chevrolet lead the way with $18.6M in spending, and was joined by Chrysler, Hyundai, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen, Kia and Mercedes-Benz. Some 41% of the game's ad revenue came from the sector, which remains the biggest share any category has had since Kantar began measuring in '95. That year, apparel brands made up 12%, led by Nike, but has averaged less than 3% each year since.
