Subway CMO Tony Pace said the QSR may not return to advertise during Super Bowl XLVIII this year because he is unsure there are “going to be spots available at the table at the kind of pricing that makes sense for us,” according to AD AGE. A 30-second spot in Fox’ broadcast is reportedly going for around $4M, and Pace said, “We always debate the pros and cons of doing it. We always factor in the cost. We were able to get some pretty smart costs this past year.” Subway paid for two ads during February’s game (a third one aired during the 34-minute blackout), and Pace acknowledged there is “no audience like that.” He said, “I believe the number this year was 108 million people and you can't get that size audience anywhere.” He noted when combining “all of our efforts and activities in social media and PR, we were actually able to garner over 130 million impressions outside of the ad itself running, and that's enormous" (ADAGE.com, 10/5).
30 SECONDS TO MARS: Mars Chocolate North America President Debra Sandler said the company is “still in the process of deciding” whether Snickers or M&Ms will be the subject of its Super Bowl spot. Sandler said, “It is an internal rat race to decide which brand. Both brands are strong. We're looking for the brand that comes, quite frankly, forward with the most creative campaign, the campaign that has the most legs. Given the cost of advertising on the Super Bowl, we have to make sure it can do more than just run on the Super Bowl. So we're looking for a holistic, 360-degree campaign" (ADAGE.com, 10/4).
