Media Trends S21 3:30 pm: Audience Metrics & Advertising Blog 2, Question 2 (Feb. 9th)

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Audience Metrics & Advertising Blog 2, Question 2 (Feb. 9th)

How would you assess this year’s Super Bowl – from the commercials to the halftime show to the game itself? In this changing media environment, is the Super Bowl as influential as a showcase for advertisers, performers, and the NFL as it was in the past? Limit: 9 responses

23 comments:

Katt LekkoFebruary 7, 2021 at 10:01 PM
How would you assess this year’s Super Bowl – from the commercials to the halftime show to the game itself?

Commercials are of great importance during the Super Bowl, with all viewers glued to their televisions from start to finish. Furthermore, the commercials are catered to the target audience in most cases, whereas the Super Bowl commercials can expand wider for a great public. The article “Tracking every ad buy for Super Bowl LV” (Nami, 2021) breaks down brands and their commercial ideas, whether it’s the description and the video for the commercial attached. The common theme throughout most of the commercials was the importance of corporate social responsibility. An example of corporate social responsibility was Bass Pro Shop’s first Super Bowl ad. The article states how the commercial encourages consumers to enjoy the great outdoors.
Just like Bass Pro Shop’s first appearance in the Super Bowl ad, other brands are taking advantage of their recent boom in interest resulting from COVID. Brands such as Indeed and Scotts Miracle-Gro. Indeed’s brand campaign is centered around people who are out of jobs due to the pandemic featuring stories from real people (Nami, 2021). It’s a great tactic in boosting morale with true stories while displaying Indeed’s services. Second, Scotts Miracle-Gro plans to cash in on the increase of outdoor projects. “The spot features celebrity appearances, a call to action for consumers, and an optimistic tone, and it will jumpstart a larger spring marketing campaign (Nami, 2021).” Despite the weather being different throughout the country, it’s imperative to add that it’s smart to get everyone’s mind on Spring coming up as we all want warmer weather.
The article “Budweiser Joins Coke and Pepsi Brands in Sitting Out First COVID-Era Super Bowl” (The Associated Press, 2021) breaks down the reasons why big companies are choosing to withdraw from Super Bowl ads in 2021. More prominent brands like Coke, Audi, and Avocados from Mexico have decided to pull out from commercials as the factors such as attitude and money are leading factors. Charles Taylor, a marketing professor at Villanova University, adds, “With COVID and economic uncertainty, people aren’t necessarily in the best mood to begin with. There’s a risk associated with messages that are potentially too light…At the same time, there’s risks associated with doing anything too somber (The Associated Press, 2021). It’s the safer bet for brands to avoid conflicts with opinions from their commercials, particularly during the era of cancel culture.
The article explains the process in which Super Bowl commercials are created. Some considerations that come into play are the time frame the commercials need to be completed during. Commercials are made in the fall, which leads the brand to create a commercial months before the game. This is problematic as we can't predict the future and know where our world will be during that time. Despite campaigns during the Super Bowl, the hype of social media advertising aids in free publicity without an ad's pressure. Budweiser instead created an ad celebrating resilience during the pandemic while highlighting athletics in Black Lives Matter jerseys.
Ultimately, the commercials have mostly taken the same approach in catering toward the pandemic and having a peaceful/optimistic approach. It’s strategized in taking the viewer's minds off of their problems for those 30 to 60 seconds. Even with no commercials from some brands, the money is going toward COVID vaccines, a particular cause, or in aiding layoffs for employers losing jobs in the companies.
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Harriet RiceFebruary 8, 2021 at 10:23 AM
Harriet Rice

I am not a huge football fan myself, however, I look forward to the Super Bowl every year solely for the halftime show and commercials. As the most-watched event of the year, the Super Bowl is used by many companies as an opportunity to sell their brand and get noticed. This opportunity does not come cheap as this year a 30-second commercial costs $5.5 million or slightly higher (Graham) and all “virtual” ad inventory sold out quick. Looking at the price in comparison to the cost of a commercial at the first super bowl which was $37,500 highlights that the Superbowl has been turned into more than just a football game (Crabtree-Hannigan).

I always look forward to the Budweisers commercials. However, Budweiser sat out this year and instead donated the money that would have gone to the ad time to be spent on the ad for coronavirus vaccination awareness efforts (Associated Press). This decision reflects and reiterates how serious this pandemic should be handled. Just as Budweiser sat out of this year many other people did. Super Bowl parties are not the same this year, nor is anything, however, these small changes that we all make is what will help us overcome this challenging year.

As a brand, I believe it was the right choice and shows more of a personality for the brand. My personal favorite was the Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade. During this crazy year, Bud Light added some humor to the “lemon of a year” we had. I did notice a unity theme from some of the commercials such as the Jeep, M& M, and NFL “As One”. These commercials show the divide and struggle the world has faced, however give us the motivation as well as reflect the unity that this country needs during these times. The commercials are given the opportunity to lift our spirits and bring awareness to the issues we face.

When talking about lifting spirits that is exactly what the halftime show did for me. At first, I was unsure and had a headache when watching the camera go from angle to angle. However, seeing a live concert and people dancing brought me so much joy. During the halftime show, I was on social media and people were not shy in posting memes of Abel. However, I think that also brings the community together whether it is criticism or not. As many are watching, we can all find something in common. Overall, I think the Superbowl this year is more influential than ever in that it is given the job to inform us and entertain us. It gives us a break from all the news going on around the world, however, it did remind us through the commercials that this pandemic is very serious and not over.
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Harriet RiceFebruary 8, 2021 at 10:23 AM
Works Cited

Crabtree-Hannigan, James. “Super Bowl Commercials 2020: How Much Does an Ad Cost for Super Bowl 54?” Sporting News, (SN Illustration), 2 Feb. 2020, www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/super-bowl-commercials-cost-2020/az0f3yw0las1wz2h3lwflq8t.

"Budweiser Joins Coke and Pepsi Brands in Sitting Out First COVID-Era Super Bowl." Associated Press (via The Hollywood Reporter) 25 Jan. 2021,
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/budweiser-joins-coke-and-pepsi-brands-in-sitting-out-first-covid-era-super-bowl

Graham, Megan. "CBS Has Sold Virtually All of Its Commercial Time for the Super Bowl." CNBC 27 Jan. 2021,
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/cbs-has-sold-virtually-all-of-its-commercial-time-for-the-super-bowl.html

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UnknownFebruary 8, 2021 at 11:36 AM
Doug Cahn

As a huge football fan, I always look forward to the Super Bowl, although sadly, as a Jets fan, I am nowhere close to seeing my team win a Super Bowl, so most of the games I hope the Patriots don't win and when they aren't in it, I hope it is a good game. Once we found out it would be Chiefs and Bucs in the Super Bowl, my original thought was the Chiefs were going to blow them out because when they are on their A-game, there is no one better them. Now the morning after the game, we know that did not happen. While the casual football fan will give Tom Brady most of the recognition, which is fair, I think most of the praise for last night should go to Todd Bowles, the defensive coordinator, and the Bucs defense because they played incredibly the previous night. To hold the Chiefs offense to only nine points was incredible, and almost every pass attempt Patrick Mahomes had, there were at least 4 or 5 Bucs defenders swarming him. One of my favorite moments from the game is late in the 4th quarter after the Bucs defense forced a three and out Bucs rookie safety Antoine Winfield Jr taunted Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill. He got penalized for it, but his reasoning for it was "The taunting, it was something I just had to do," Winfield said. "When we played them earlier, Hill went off on us. He back-flipped in front of my face and gave me the peace sign. So it was only right that I gave him the peace sign right back to him at this moment. It felt amazing to be able to do that. I'm not even gonna lie." (Patra) When it comes to the Super Bowl, almost every American will watch it even if they are not a big football fan because of the halftime show and the commercials. I was very skeptical over this year for the Super Bowl commercials because with Covid-19, I wondered how good the commercials could be, and if I am frank, besides for maybe 2 or 3 commercials, I thought most of them weren't very good. According to a CNBC article, "Thirty-second spots on the advertising's biggest night have been selling for $5.5 million or slightly higher. But ViacomCBS could still let an advertiser on the game if they made a great offer. CBS will broadcast the Super Bowl on Feb. 7." (Graham). While the 5.5 million price tag isn't surprising the fact, the Viacom was willing to negotiate on the buy-in price is very telling because it makes it look like they were worried that they would lose money if they didn't. Another significant setback in the commercials this year is that many of the typical companies you see have the better Super Bowl Ads opted out of it this year. Most notable of all of the opt-outs is Budweiser. "For the first time since 1983, when Anheuser-Busch used all of its ad time to introduce a beer called Bud Light, the beer giant isn't advertising its iconic Budweiser brand during the Super Bowl. Instead, it's donating the money it would have spent on the ad to coronavirus vaccination awareness efforts." (AP) I don't think anyone will blame them for trying to help with the Corona vaccine.
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UnknownFebruary 8, 2021 at 11:37 AM
halftime show, arguably the most significant concert a musician can book. Many people were very excited when it was announced that the Weeknd would be the headliner, but after last night, I think many people were disappointed. The part that stands out the most is when he ran through the gold hall of mirrors and gave everyone in the world a headache. All in all, I don't think this will be the most memorable Super Bowl, but a bad Super Bowl is better than no Super Bowl.

Works Cited:
Megancgraham. “CBS Has Sold Virtually All of Its Commercial Time for the Super Bowl.” CNBC, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/cbs-has-sold-virtually-all-of-its-commercial-time-for-the-super-bowl.html.
Patra, Kevin. “Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr. on Taunting Tyreek Hill: 'Something I Just Had to Do'.” NFL.com, NFL, 8 Feb. 2021, www.nfl.com/news/bucs-s-antoine-winfield-jr-on-taunting-tyreek-hill-something-i-just-had-to-do.
Press, the Associated. “Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi Sit Out Super Bowl.” The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan. 2021, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/budweiser-joins-coke-and-pepsi-brands-in-sitting-out-first-covid-era-super-bowl.

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Adam TollinFebruary 8, 2021 at 1:51 PM
Adam Tollin
Media Trends Blog 2

This was the first, and hopefully the last Super Bowl of the COVID era. Some major companies decided to opt out of having a commercial slot like Coke and Pepsi, and The Weeknd was not allowed to bring out any guests for his halftime show performance. Needless to say, this year was different than all the rest. However, the sport of football and everything that surrounds it is always changing regardless of COVID.

Less and less children are playing football because of the risks of head injuries, so there are a lot of worries about how the game will survive if this trend persists. For Super Bowl LV, I noticed a variety of different things that changed from previous years. The use of cinematography on the field was used every time the clock wasn’t running. Videographers were using 8K lenses to capture moments of players’ reactions and facial expressions to make the viewing experience better, showing incredible depth of field. With these types of shots, it can feel like you’re watching a movie. Other differences I noticed are more likely to be related to COVID, rather than a changing media environment. Big companies have decided not to air any commercials for their brands this year in light of the pandemic. “These big-brand absences are just one more way Super Bowl LV will look very different from previous years. Attendance at the game will be limited to 22,000 people, about a third of the more than 65,890 capacity of Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. And Super Bowl parties will be more likely to be smaller affairs with pods or families.” (Associated Press)

For example, Anheuser-Busch decided not to air an ad for their brand, Budweiser, but to take the money they would’ve used for it and donated it to a COVID relief fund. Other companies like PepsiCo did the same with Pepsi, and some companies decided to sit out completely, like: Coca Cola, Audi, and Avocados from Mexico (Associated Press). “There’s a risk associated with messages that are potentially too light… At the same time, there’s a risk associated with doing anything too somber.” (Associated Press)

Even though some big-name brands have decided that this year could be risky for a Super Bowl ad, ViacomCBS reported that they are “virtually” sold out of commercial slots for the Super Bowl (Graham). Last year when the game was covered by Fox, all of the slots were sold out instantly, and this year all of the CBS slots didn’t sell out until last month (News 4 Staff). Although some of the larger brands decided to opt out this year, that gave room for some newer companies to enter the spotlight. “New names like ecommerce company Mercari, freelance marketplace Fiverr and used car retailer Vroom will appear on next month’s game after strength in a stay-at-home year.” (Graham)

In a way, this was an opportunity for some newer brands to make their entrance into the American business world through a Super Bowl ad passed up by a company like Coke. I was personally a fan of the changes that underwent for this year’s Super Bowl. I liked the camera coverage, and I enjoyed many of the new brand name commercials.

Works Cited

Graham, Megan C. “CBS Has Sold Virtually All of Its Commercial Time for the Super Bowl.” CNBC, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/cbs-has-sold-virtually-all-of-its-commercial-time-for-the-super-bowl.html.
Press, the Associated. “Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi Sit Out Super Bowl.” The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan. 2021, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/budweiser-joins-coke-and-pepsi-brands-in-sitting-out-first-covid-era-super-bowl.
Staff, News 4. “Changes Coming to This Year's Super Bowl Commercials.” News 4 Buffalo, News 4 Buffalo, 7 Feb. 2021, www.wivb.com/the-big-game/changes-coming-to-this-years-super-bowl-commercials/.
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UnknownFebruary 8, 2021 at 2:59 PM
Alyssa Murphy Part 1
Some will argue that the Superbowl has lost some of its significance, especially in a season like this one, but I find that the Superbowl still holds the same importance as it has in the past. This showed through in the decisions made by advertisers and by the NFL as a whole.
When looking at advertisement trends this year, it becomes clear that the Superbowl holds great significance, and advertisers were aware of this. Thirty-second commercial slots on CBS sold for around $5.5m dollars each (Graham), and advertisers still jumped to pay this. CBS filled nearly all of its commercial slots, saying that the ad slots were “virtually” sold out. Even in a year of uncertainty, the advertisers still jumped at the opportunity.
It is important to note that many companies opted out of advertising in this year’s Superbowl, such as Coke and Budweiser (Graham). This may be due to a fear of facing public backlash, because spending millions of dollars on a short ad slot during a pandemic seems distasteful when the money could go towards public health efforts. This goes to show that the Superbowl still does have great significance and relevance in the eyes of advertisers, because they were concerned about the general public’s reaction to their decisions, and they were aware of how many people would be viewing it/critiquing it.
Coke and Budweiser chose to opt out of advertising entirely due to the fear of public backlash, but other companies took to a different strategy: emotionally charged advertising. Companies such as Doordash and Procter and Gamble created advertisements that highlighted community and togetherness. Doordash displayed a neighborhood all coming together, with a Sesame Street theme to really send home the idea of community. Procter and Gamble showed a commercial about sharing chores in the home, displaying the theme of togetherness well (Kooser). These companies still spent millions on their ads, but they chose to tiptoe around the possible ethics/value issues by connecting personally with the audience and making the ads matter in a time like this. They chose to highlight topics that people would enjoy seeing situationally, in order to avoid community hate.
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UnknownFebruary 8, 2021 at 2:59 PM
Alyssa Murphy Part 2
Not only were advertisers aware of the importance of the Superbowl, but the NFL overall was as well. Despite having emptied the stands throughout the entire season, this game featured “30,000 cut outs and 25,000 fans” in the seats (Collins). The league knew that everyone would be watching, so they wanted to fill the stands and make the game seem as “authentic” as possible. During a pandemic, this seems problematic, and the NFL was aware of this. In order to cover up their potential issues with public health and values, they heavily advertised that the stands would be filled with a number of vaccinated health care workers, who were granted tickets free of charge (Graham). They tiptoed around the fact that random people filled most of the stands, and only a small percentage of the fans were vaccinated health care workers. This was a successful strategy - prior to the game, I was under the impression that all of the fans were vaccinated health care workers, until a friend informed me otherwise. The NFL successfully executed an authentic Superbowl experience, knowing its importance and that the public would want it, while also balancing ethics issues, knowing that there could be a heavy negative public reaction as well.
Collins, Ben. “Super Bowl 2021: Half-Time Show and Reduced Capacity - Your Guide to the NFL Showpiece - BBC Sport.” BBC News, BBC, 2021, www.bbc.com/sport/american-football/55939307.
Graham, Megan C. “CBS Has Sold Virtually All of Its Commercial Time for the Super Bowl.” CNBC, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/cbs-has-sold-virtually-all-of-its-commercial-time-for-the-super-bowl.html.
Kooser, Amanda. “Super Bowl 2021 Commercials: See the Best, Funniest, Most Uplifting Ads.” CNET, www.cnet.com/news/super-bowl-2021-commercials-see-the-best-funniest-most-uplifting-ads/.

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UnknownFebruary 8, 2021 at 8:47 PM
Kenneth Gruenfelder

The Super Bowl held up to its standard like it has in years past. There were many storylines going into this game from a football aspect that kept fans engaged for this upcoming game. I also think having 7,500 healthcare workers in attendance for this game was very special considering all the sacrifices they have made over the past year. Also there were many commercials on television that got people talking about The Weeknd’s halftime performance. The Pepsi commercial featuring one of the Weeknd’s songs was played constantly leading up to the Superbowl. This year definitely brought a lot of challenges to us, but I still think the Super Bowl delivered like it always does. Pepsi and Budweiser were absent in the commercials, but I still think that the commercials held up. I think the weakest part of the entire Super Bowl was the game itself for football fans everywhere. Fans were anticipating that this game would be very exciting and come down to the end, but it ended up being a blowout. The Superbowl is still as influential as it always has been considering that people are desperately hoping for return to normalcy during this time and will gravitate towards anything to get to that point. Many people who are not into football watch the Superbowl for the commercials and the halftime shows. The Superbowl can be a platform that many business and entertainers use in order to gain recognition and popularity. In “Budweiser Joins Coke and Pepsi Brands in Sitting Out First COVID-Era Super Bowl” it talks about how there are many platforms to use such as social media to get their content out into the world to consumers. Specifically in the article it says “In the era of social media and digital advertising, brands aren’t limited to running ads during one event, since consumers can see them online, everywhere from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube, Budweiser's Rustgi said. Budweiser’s Super Bowl step-back also won’t be long-term, she said.”(Budweiser)
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UnknownFebruary 8, 2021 at 9:36 PM
Eric Martineau Blog 2

Super Bowl Sunday was full of familiar faces, but something was off. Brady won his seventh ring, but Patriots fans were nowhere to be found. The lethal Kansas City offense could not buy a touchdown. Most of all, the commercials in between the game struggled to keep my glued to the television.

The ongoing pandemic has caused tremendous loss throughout the globe, and media conglomerates were not immune. Some companies that were a household name when it came to Super Bowl ads decided to lay low this year in order to save some money. “Other veteran Super Bowl advertisers like Coke, Audi and Avocados from Mexico are sitting out the game altogether” (AP). Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch decided to invest their money into other products such as the halftime show and secondary products. While some major names were missing in between timeouts, the hosts of this year’s Super Bowl do not have much to complain about.

CBS had the honor of broadcasting the 55th rendition of the Super Bowl this past Sunday, which means they were charging a pretty penny to companies wishing to market their services. Although COVID reduced the number of brands seeking for an ad slot, “Ad inventory for the Super Bowl was virtually sold out for the Feb. 7th game, according to Viacom CBS” (Graham). The $5.5 million price tag did not seem to scare away new competitors on the market, giving viewers a lot to look forward to during the game.

I personally enjoyed a good amount of the advertisements I saw during the Buccaneers’ beatdown of the Chiefs. Some of my favorites were the “Drake from State Farm” and “Come Together” by M&M. Although the Reddit ad was interesting from an execution standpoint, I think it limited the message from reaching people who had no interest in looking up what just flew by their screen. Robinhood playing defense shortly after was expected, but I could not care less.

In terms of the game itself, I found it pretty boring. Even Tom Brady only seemed casually excited when the final whistle blew. I did really enjoy the halftime performance by The Weeknd. I think he nailed the performance despite people hating on the sound quality. An article from Vanity Fair points out that “He was backed by an array of singers and dancers, though unusually for a halftime performance, he was not joined by any other artists” (Vanderhoof). In my eyes, The Weeknd took this opportunity to not only highlight the fact that he was the first Canadian artist to headline the halftime show, but to make up for missed concerts during 2020. He should be on tour as we speak for his hit album “After Hours”. I am actually pleased that he was selfish and chose to do the performance solo.

I think the Super Bowl held its ground in a very unusual set of circumstances. Once the pandemic subsides and things return back to normal, the Super Bowl will fully return to the spectacle it truly is.
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Kristen FlickFebruary 9, 2021 at 1:04 AM
Super Bowl LV was held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay and included the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs and the NFC Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers are the first team in NFL history to ever host and win a super bowl, and they did so with a pretty demanding score of 31 to 9. As Professor Paul Argenti of Dartmouth College stated in The Hollywood Reporter, “it’s a tough year to do an ad, but a good year for creative companies who figure out how to thread the needle.” I think that is an accurate representation of this year’s Super Bowl with regards to commercials. As my boyfriend forced me to watch the whole game, I was able to take notice of the different commercials and companies that took the spotlight from some typical big names. One thing that this Super Bowl’s advertising had that is unique from others was that companies had a difficult time finding ways to connect with and draw in their audiences without being too light or too somber, due to the pandemic. Additionally, large companies like Budweiser decided to not prepare commercials for the Super Bowl, so the door was cracked for any company that really wanted the reach (Graham). For example, I saw that Paramount had multiple commercials and must have spent millions of dollars for that type of airtime during the Super Bowl, a company I feel we are not used to seeing. In an article by the ComicBook, Paramount and Patrick Stewart gained much attention from viewers, even including many celebrities on Twitter. The actor danced with Snooki and others to Spongebob’s “Victory”, stealing some of the spotlight from the bigger brands we are used to seeing (Outlaw). Additionally, there were at-home commercials to place an emphasis on the pandemic as companies like Vroom were added to the lineup. With that being said, this year was a telling year for advertising and does put into question the legitimacy of paying $5.5 million or slightly higher for a 30-second commercial (Graham). The game especially did not help, as I think football fans will eventually get sick of watching Tom Brady winning Super Bowls and will be indifferent if their team isn’t playing. The halftime show, led by The Weekend, was enjoyable and had a track list that was generally appreciated and recognizable. I also think the many performers did a tremendous job, but I will say that the costumes that cover the face may take away from the individuality of their performance. Overall, I think that the Super Bowl is not as influential as a showcase as it used to be in the past, seeming more overrated and aged considering the times during the pandemic. As I stated, $5.5 million for one commercial is a little outrageous, and companies have and will continue to find other ways to reach their audience.

Works Cited:
Press, the Associated. “Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi Sit Out Super Bowl.” The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan. 2021, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/budweiser-joins-coke-and-pepsi-brands-in-sitting-out-first-covid-era-super-bowl.
Graham, Megan C. “CBS Has Sold Virtually All of Its Commercial Time for the Super Bowl.” CNBC, CNBC, 27 Jan. 2021, www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/cbs-has-sold-virtually-all-of-its-commercial-time-for-the-super-bowl.html.
Outlaw, K. (2021, February 4). Patrick Stewart dancing has FANS loving New Paramount+ Super Bowl ad. Retrieved February 09, 2021, from https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/patrick-stewart-dancing-paramount-plus-super-bowl-2021-commercials/#1
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Sumer PerrattiFebruary 9, 2021 at 3:00 AM
Summer Perratti Part 1
If you were an alien visiting Planet Earth for this year’s Super Bowl, you may have not known there was an ongoing global pandemic amidst the United States’ most televised event. Despite the attendance being the lowest in Super Bowl history, the Super Bowl LV hosted over “25,000 people—as well as 30,000 cutouts” to emulate a fully packed stadium (Super Bowl 2021). While the game was severely upsetting for Chiefs fans and Tom Brady nemeses yet a celebration for supporters of Brady and the Buccaneers, some die-hard football fans may have viewed the game as inadequate or unsatisfactory as a result of the pandemic’s impact on both the NFL and American sports in general. The same reasoning applied to the highly anticipated halftime show performance, given by top-selling artist The Weeknd, whose performance inspired many articles and tweets that describe the overall act as underwhelming. That was likely unexpected for Abel and his team, as he reportedly spent “$7 million of his own money” on dressing up his performance for halftime (Logan). As the Glamour article “The Weeknd Put $7 Million of His Own Money Into That Super Bowl Halftime Show” points out, it is likely that Abel’s team expected to be compensated for the high budget in streams and album sales, which is still very possible, considering his consistent record-breaking success in recent years. It is even more possible during a pandemic, when streaming rates and the desires for virtually any sort of proper entertainment have skyrocketed.
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Reese MentiplyFebruary 9, 2021 at 5:10 AM
Reese Mentiply

The SuperBowl is a yearly spectacle that marks the end of the NFL season. The size of the event prompts huge media companies to gain rights to the broadcast, and other companies to secure time for ads during commercial breaks. This year ViacomCBS had the rights to the broadcast. I think they did a good enough job given the circumstances of the COVID-19 virus. Clearly some of the fandom was lacking due to the virus, and that made things a bit unfamiliar to me personally. The game still brought in a number of companies for ads, and was mostly sold out before November. They sold 30 second spots for 5.5 million dollars. I did notice a change in the ads. Smaller companies, some still well known, had ads during the game more often than larger companies like Coke and Pepsi. The pandemic had an effect on this.

The pandemic posed a problem for advertisers. Most obviously, the games site in Tampa Bay was not filled to its capacity which is usually a certainty for the SuperBowl, and overall excitement for the game and fandom was considered to be at a low. Its economic effect on society has compromised consumerism and this is a deterrent from investing a lot of money for ads encouraging people to purchase something. In addition, the sensitive mood and feel for what is going on politically, socially, and medically with the pandemic and other issues is a gray area that many are hesitant to try and test. (Budweiser) If something comes off the wrong way or is not delivered correctly during an ad, a backlash of response though social media could be a bad PR situation for any company. On the other hand, smaller companies, some branches of bigger ones, took advantage of success they found during the pandemic and decided to invest in making an ad for the biggest sporting event of the year.

I thought that the broadcast of the game by CBS could have been better. Personally I thought some of the graphics they had up were out of timing with the announcers and it caused them to waste some pretty good graphics. One in particular I remember was a timeline of Brady with his personal photo changing as the years went on. It was thrown up mid-game and they had to cut it short less than halfway through. This does not seem like a huge deal, but I was left confused and it definitely was not supposed to happen so it sure was noticeable and not a great moment. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo are huge assets for the network and they did a underwhelming job. Most of it wasn’t their fault, as the game lacked much excitement and was often hindered by referees. The narratives around Brady were set before that game regardless of the chatter, and the game was seemingly out of hand very quickly. This all added up to the two announcers not ever really having a moment to build up and capitalize on. Overall, the broadcast had some mistakes, but they have to be judged on a curve due to the game unfolding like it did.
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Matt TaylorFebruary 9, 2021 at 12:37 PM
Matthew Taylor
Media Trends Blog 2

Being that I am not an avid fan of football, this year’s Super Bowl felt like any other to me. I watched it with my roommates and paid enough attention to have gotten my fill of football for another year. The commercials just as every year were pretty good. Only a few stood out to me in particular however I do believe there was a decent amount of progress made within them and outside them of which I will go into later. As for the halftime show, it was honestly kind of odd but I’m a huge fan of The Weekend so it is hard for me to say anything bad about it. The music choice was fantastic and the transitions between each song felt very fluid and exciting. Not to mention the more instrumental/orchestral feel it had being performed live. Overall, I would say it was a successful showcase for advertising and performers. When it comes to the game itself, I have heard many differing opinions.

I do believe that the Super Bowl, especially this year was much more influential as a showcase for advertisers. Being that we are still in an ingoing pandemic the capability to have the entire game streamed along with the ads normally only seen on cable TV is a great. Although I am not a big football fan, I found myself glued to the TV like most Americans probably were as there isn’t much else to do during the pandemic. In doing so I saw what I would consider some good progress in the advertising world along with some good messages. One of the most surprising developments though had to be the absence of Coke, Pepsi, and Budweiser. Three staples of the advertising world decided to sit out this year and instead donate the money to Covid-19 relief and vaccine awareness. Although this is a much appreciated and helpful choice on their part, the reality of the situation is that the pandemic has hit everyone hard even the big businesses, “Companies that are running ads this year face a number of challenges. Super Bowl ads are usually developed months in advance and shot in the fall, meaning that ads airing in two weeks were shot under costly pandemic conditions and without any idea how the presidential election would turn out. That further complicates the already delicate process of striking a tone that acknowledges what's happening with the world, managing to either entertain or tug at viewer heartstrings, and finding a way to tie it all back to their brand.” (Associated Press 10). In this time there are more risks than rewards for producing these large-scale advertisements. The choice to donate the money is very helpful and not to mention a much lower risk for an already stirred up year. These adds are supposed to benefit the company in the long term but with the uncertainty of the pandemic it is unknown if it will or not.
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Matt TaylorFebruary 9, 2021 at 12:37 PM
However, with the choice to drop-out of the Super Bowl ad line up, there still was not a single slot left of commercial time this year, “Inventory on the Fox broadcast of the 2020 Super Bowl had been sold out by the prior November, but it’s not unusual for in-game ad slots to remain until much closer to game time. Though the Super Bowl has always represented a rare opportunity for advertisers to get American eyeballs on their brand, it’s been a difficult and uncertain year for many businesses.” (Graham 4). This is likely because of the many newcomers to the advertising line up this year such as Logitech, Mercari, Vroom, Fiverr, and Dr. Squatch. While these are lineup for this year. Although there are significantly smaller brands they were still good contenders for the target audience of the Super Bowl and provided very high quality ads. One of my favorites being the Logitech ad about defying old logic and embracing the new as it was shot very well, had a diverse cast, and a message I believe is very important in the current state of our world. While this add did not get the highest rating at #40 with an average score of 5.3 it did quite well as it does not have any direct competitors in the lineup. Other small brand ads I mentioned were ranked and scored as follows; Dr. Squatch #41 Avg. Score 5.3, Vroom #42 Avg. Score 5.2, Fiverr #43 Avg. Score 5.2, and Mercari #55 Avg. Score 4.5. ( USA Today Ad Meter)

Works Cited

"Budweiser Joins Coke and Pepsi Brands in Sitting Out First COVID-Era Super Bowl." Associated Press (via The Hollywood Reporter) 25 Jan. 2021,

Graham, Megan. "CBS Has Sold Virtually All of Its Commercial Time for the Super Bowl." CNBC 27 Jan. 2021,

“USA TODAY Ad Meter.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, admeter.usatoday.com/.
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Media Trends S21 3:30 pm

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