Spurs F Tim Duncan and Suns G Steve Nash will star in one of Bridgestone Tires' ads scheduled to air during NBC’s broadcast of Super Bowl XLVI, while another spot includes Pro Football HOFers Troy Aikman and Deion Sanders. The ads from The Richards Group, Dallas, continue to showcase the tire brand’s new performance positioning, which debuted with the Jan. 2 ad on NBC’s NHL Winter Classic broadcast. Aikman and Sanders will tout the tires' handling and cornering abilities, while Nash and Duncan will demonstrate how the Serenity technology used within the Turanza tires guarantee a quiet ride. One ad will air in the pod at the end of the first quarter, and one will air in the final pod of the third quarter (Terry Lefton, THE DAILY).
SNEAK PREVIEW: In N.Y., Stuart Elliott reports the growing interest among consumers “in discussing Super Bowl commercials on social Web sites before and during the game is pushing sponsors to use sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to stimulate excitement about their expensive and often elaborate spots.” The result is that “a long-held belief among marketers that Super Bowl commercials should be kept hush-hush until they run is giving way to a philosophy of teasing content in advance.” In some cases, that means “sharing even entire commercials early.” For instance, Volkswagen last Wednesday began running their teaser video called “The Bark Side” in an attempt to “pique interest in its coming Super Bowl commercial for the 2012 Beetle.” The actual Super Bowl spot “is to be posted online on Feb. 1, four days before” the game. Volkswagen America Exec VP and Chief Product & Marketing Officer Tim Mahoney: “We want to start and provoke a conversation ... we’re off to a rock-solid start.” Deutsch CEO Mike Sheldon, whose L.A.-based agency created the Super Bowl commercials and teaser videos for VW, said lifting the veil before the game “has a halo effect.” Sheldon said of viewers, “They like to be let in on the joke, let in on the story, early.” Elliott noted Chevy “began running one of its Super Bowl commercials ... on youtube.com and chevrolet.com on Thursday.” And Audi plans “to release online a teaser video and a game about its commercial for Super Bowl XLVI” today or tomorrow (N.Y. TIMES, 1/24).
RAKING IT IN: In N.Y., Claire Atikinson cites sources as saying that WNBC-TV “can ring up an extra $2 million in ad revenue for the Super Bowl thanks to the New York Giants’ trip to the NFL Championship Game.” The channel “had been charging as much as $575,000 for a 30-second local spot during the game” and sources said that the number “is expected to jump to about $800,000 … as advertisers race to get their spots before a larger-than-usual and more affluent TV audience.” The added $2M in ad revenue “includes not only the game but any pre- and post-game coverage” (N.Y. POST, 1/24).
