Even before the coin toss, Super Bowl XXXIII has set a record, fetching FOX an average of $1.6 million per 30-second spot. That amounts to a 23% increase over the $1.3 million NBC got last year. And some advertisers have gone even higher than the average for additional leverage come Jan. 31, otherwise known as Super Sunday. Anheuser-Busch is said to be paying extra for category exclusivity to give an extra boost to 10 spots that will come from a mix of agencies, primarily Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, DDB Needham Chicago and possibly The
Leap Partnership, Chicago, Fusion Idea Lab, Chicago, and Open Minds, Laguna Niguel, Calif. And rumor is that Titan Sports, which runs the World Wrestling Federation, was asked by FOX to hurdle the $1.6 million bar because of scheduling concerns; it seems several other advertisers have requested their messages not run near the WWF fare, which is being generated by an in-house agency.
Per usual during this pre-pre-game juncture, advertisers, agencies, production houses, post shops and other support services were reticent to discuss their Super Bowl projects, especially spot storylines. Nonetheless, through the industry grapevine and other circuitous routes, SHOOT garnered details and credits for some of what could emerge during the Super Bowl telecast.
Part of the uncertainty comes in some cases from the advertisers themselves, who at press time had not yet decided which spots they would air come game day. Anheuser-Busch seems to be sticking to its modus operandi of recent years: producing assorted, prospective ads for Super Sunday and waiting until a scant few days prior to the big game to choose which will air. Certainly, we can expect to see three or four Goodby Budweiser lizard spots directed by agency associate creative director Tom Routson, with creature creation from Digital Domain, Venice, Calif., and the Stan Winston Studios, Van Nuys, Calif. But what will emerge out of DDB Needham remains to be seen, though there has been some talk of a couple of spots for Bud Light-Rough Choice and Invisible Man, directed by Steve Chase of bicoastal Reactor Films. Meanwhile, Michelob work-helmed by Tom DeCerchio of bicoastal Nitro Films-is in the running via The Leap Partnership. And word is that a Bud spot directed by Adam Massey of Atlas Pictures, Santa Monica, for Open Minds, in which a guy conspires to claim a bottle of brew as the reward for the return of a lost dog, is also under consideration.
Similarly, Pizza Hut and BBDO New York are said to have several ads to choose from for the Super Bowl, one of which supposedly stars and is being directed by Spike Lee via his Brooklyn production company Forty Acres And A Mule Filmworks. SHOOT also got wind of two other possible Pizza Hut ads helmed by Mike Bigelow of bicoastal Coppos Films. Pizza Hut is expected to unveil its Big New Yorker, an oversized pizza targeting teens and tweens.
Already the Super Bowl has suffered its first casualty: FOX rejected a proposed ad for Internet job site Hotjobs.com. As conceived by Boston-based Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, the spot depicts a man sweeping an elephants cage at the zoo. Both man and elephant are unaware of the others existence, apparently leading to the mans demise: The ad simply shows the elephant sitting down, with the man nowhere to be found. You dont have to be stuck in the same job, the commercial concludes. FOX, the network that brought us When Animals Attack, deemed the ad to be in poor taste, and Hill, Holliday subsequently lost the account. For its Super Bowl foray, Hotjobs.com turned to McCann-Erickson Detroit, Troy, Mich.; details of the McCann spot werent known at press time, but its supposedly being directed by Trevor Robinson of London-based Quiet Storm. (Robinson is repped in the U.S. by New York-based Sandi Mollod.)
The Hotjob.com anecdote underscores emerging new product categories on the Super Bowl. Auto-By Tel-an online auto sales service-will be on the Super Bowl for the third consecutive year, this time out of Grey Advertising, Los Angeles. (Previously, Auto-By-Tel work was conceived by RBI Communications, Hollywood.) Even cyberspace itself will be home to some Super Bowl advertising as Anheuser-Busch seeks to breathe new life into its decade-old Bud Bowl campaign, which in years past had been a high-profile part of the Super Sunday telecast. This year at halftime, however, fans can catch a five-minute game on the Internet between the Bud and Bud Light football teams as part of a giveaway contest promotion devised by Louis London, St. Louis, and DDB Needham Chicagos interactive unit.
Cable network VH1 might be running a Super Bowl spot, reportedly part of its musician-driven campaign, directed by Jon Kane of Celsius Films, New York, through VH1s in-house agency.
Also in the offing is whats believed to be the first Super Bowl ad promoting the home video release of a theatrical motion picture. DreamWorks SKG, Los Angeles, has bought time on FOX to promote its computer animation film, Antz, which has performed successfully at both domestic and foreign box offices. Presumably, computer animation house Pacific Data Images, Palo Alto, Calif., would be involved in any original production for the commercial. PDI-which maintains a full spotmaking operation-co-produced Antz with DreamWorks. (DreamWorks owns 40% of PDI.)
On the theatrical movie front, its rumored that a Super Bowl ad promoting the new Star Wars film will air. Even a character from a blockbuster motion picture will get some exposure on Super Sunday: E.T., the extraterrestrial himself, is slated to appear in a Progressive Insurance :60 via Arnell Group, New York. Progressive-which is sponsoring the Super Bowl halftime show-has adopted E.T. as ambassador of Progressive-funded PSAs promoting seat-belt usage for auto safety as well as anti-road rage and anti-drunk-driving messages. This marks E.T.s first commercial appearance since the 1980s. Industrial Light+Magic Commercial Productions, Los Angeles and San Rafael, Calif., is reportedly producing the E.T. spot fare.
ILMCP also figures in First Unions Super Bowl debut. Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco, has bought Super Bowl time for First Union, which several months ago broke an ambitious live-action/visual effects campaign directed by Steve Beck of ILMCP.
And Arnold Communications, Boston, is slated to make its Super Bowl debut with work for Hartford Insurance. Word at press time was that Hartford had two combo live-action/effects ads, one slated for the pre-game show, another set to run during the third quarter of the game. Both spots-Kangaroo and Piano-were directed by Peter Cherry of Highway 61, New York, and deploy extensive visual effects produced by Garner MacLennan Design, Sydney, Australia. Its believed that Kangaroo will run during the Super Bowl.
But beyond the new wrinkles, there will be some mainstays on Super Sunday, including BBDO New York. Besides the aforementioned Pizza Hut, BBDO has ads for Pepsi (including, reportedly, Pepsi One), FedEx, Visa, Frito-Lay and M&M Mars slated. Details were sketchy on these projects. Sources said the FedEx commercial may carry an NHL theme. The M&M Crispy advertising is expected to introduce a new orange M&M fleeing from a feeding frenzy of people trying to eat him. The M&M work will feature such stars as actress Halle Berry, Seinfeld semi-regular Patrick Warburton and Drew Carey performer Deidrich Bader.
Joe Pytka of PYTKA, Venice, is believed to be involved in some Pepsi fare this year, but that could not be confirmed at press time. Barring a late surprise, director Kinka Usher-whos been a regular in recent years-wont be helming any Super Sunday spots this year: Hes wrapping his first feature film, The Mystery Men, for Universal. Last year, however, Usher-of House Of Usher Films, Santa Monica-directed Pepsis Flying Geese (with visual effects by Digital Domain), which topped USA Todays annual poll of Super Bowl commercials and earned SHOOT Top Spot distinction (1/30/98, p. 14).
SHOOT heard that a Visa ad was being directed by Michael Karbelnikoff of bicoastal HKM Productions, with visual effects by Planet Blue, Santa Monica. But it couldnt be confirmed if that spot was actually for the Super Bowl. And Frito-Lays entry for Doritos is believed to be entitled Library, directed by Reactor Films Chase.
Another perennial Super Bowler, Nike, again will appear, this time presumably with its ongoing Alpha campaign, directed by Michael Bay of bicoastal/ international Propaganda Films for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. What Nike fare was coming out of Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., for Super Sunday wasnt yet known at press time.
And the reported Seinfeld cast reunion is slated to surface in American Express advertising, which features Jerry Seinfeld traveling cross-country by car, running into several of his former series cohorts along the way. Rob Pritts of Backyard Productions, Santa Monica and Chicago, is believed to have directed one of the American Express ads out of Ogilvy & Mather, New York.
Though its been widely reported that Apple Computer-out of TBWA/Chiat/Day, Playa del Rey, Calif.-would be in this years Super Bowl, an agency source told SHOOT that might not be the case. At press time, a decision had not yet been made. If Apple does indeed run, it would mark a notable return to Super Sunday. Apple last aired a spot during the big game in 1985. And of course, its 1984 spot, introducing the Macintosh and directed by Ridley Scott via now defunct Fairbanks Films (Scott is now with his own bicoastal RSA USA), is arguably the most famous Super Bowl ad of all time.
Definitely slated to run during the Super Bowl is an ad for the Honda Odyssey minivan, Family Negotiations 2, directed by the Coen brothers, feature filmmakers who helm spots via bicoastal Villains. Both Family Negotiations 1 and 2 have been airing in recent months. The premise has lawyers seated around a corporate boardroom, each representing a different family member (e.g., kids, mom, dad), negotiating to make sure their clients get the features they want in a minivan. The kids want nine cup-holders, mom wants a disappearing third seat, the father objects to the existence of a third seat, but legal counsel for the family dog points out thats where his client sleeps. The ads showcase the Odyssey as the ideal van, taking into account the needs of all family members. Two additional ads in the campaign-Family Negotiations 3 and 4, also directed by the Coen brothers-will run in the coming months.
Additionally, theres been some talk of an Oldsmobile ad from Leo Burnett Co., Chicago, possibly airing; it was directed by Danny Weisberg of Orbit Productions, Hollywood.
Athletic shoe and apparel retailer Just for Feet, a first-time Super Bowl advertiser, has a spot scheduled to run during the fourth quarter. Production credits werent available at press time, but the ad offers viewers a chance to win a Hummer if they can identify the secret message contained within the spot. Agency is Saatchi & Saatchi Business Communications, Rochester, N.Y. Teasers for the promotional giveaway ad ran during coverage of the NFC and AFC championship games.
Volvo Trucks of North America will make its second consecutive Super Bowl appearance with an ad during the first quarter of the game. According to Volvo agency Carmichael Lynch Spong, Minneapolis, the Super Sunday ad carried a production budget of around $500,000. Promoting Volvos Best Drive In The Game II big-rig giveaway contest, the spot was directed by Gary Johns of Farmland Studios, Hollywood.
Among other advertisers reportedly slated to appear during the big game are MasterCard, 7-Up, AT&T, Holiday Inn, Mail Boxes Etc., and MGM Studios.
-Additional reporting by Robert Goldrich, Kathy DeSalvo and Richard Linnett.
