Phoenix-area Boy Scouts are placing souvenir cushions on
every seat in Sun Devil Stadium in preparation for the game, in a
Super Bowl tradition that has taken place every year since '85.
This year's cushions will be loaded with sponsor-related items,
including small binoculars from Breathe-Rite; a GTE commemorative
pre-paid calling card; Microsoft's Internet Explorer Web browser;
Oscar Mayer's "wiener whistle"; an AMC theatres coupon book; and
a color-coded card to be used during the halftime show. GTE will
donate $10,000 to the Grand Canyon Council of the Boy Scouts in
return for their help (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 1/23)....Jerry Rice, a
Breathe-Right spokesperson, will be pictured on the
"spectoculars" wearing his 49ers jersey and a Breathe-Right strip
(Mericom Marketing)....Sports Illustrated has brought 130 of its
top advertisers to the area for the game and is lodging them at
the Wigwam golf resort (ARIZONA DAILY STAR, 1/23)....This
morning's USA TODAY profiles the NFLPA's licensing and
merchandising wing. The union is spending $1.2M on a four-day
expo in Phoenix (USA TODAY, 1/23).
AD WATCH: EA Sports will broadcast the Madden Bowl '96
video game tournament through its Web site. The event, scheduled
for Friday and Saturday, features NFL players playing each other
on Sega (AD AGE ONLINE, 1/23)....This morning's USA TODAY
features Super Bowl advertisers with small ad budgets, including
The National Pork Producers Council; Mail Boxes Etc.; Quaker
State and Breathe Right (USA TODAY, 1/23)....NBC's Ed Markey says
the network's 2.5 hour pregame show is "more than 90% sold."
Rates range from $400-600,000. Rudy Martzke reports that NBC's
ad income for Super Bowl programming will total $80M (USA TODAY,
1/23).... This morning's "Super Bowl Ad Watch" features Nissan's
30-second spot "Pathfinder on Safari" (USA TODAY, 1/23)
