Super Bowl advertising puts focus on rookies

By Michael McCarthy
USA Today

NEW YORK — For the Super Bowl's "game within the game" — the high-stakes commercial competition among big-spending advertisers — rookies such as MBNA, GoDaddy.com, CareerBuilder.com, Volvo Cars of North America and Ciba Vision are emerging to challenge veterans such as Anheuser-Busch and Pepsi.

Also in is camera giant Olympus, which might as well be a rookie: Its last Super Bowl ad was in 1981.

The clock is ticking for marketers still considering a spot on the annual most-watched TV event. Ad time for Fox's Feb. 6 broadcast from Jacksonville is more than 90 percent sold out, with a half-dozen spots left out of 58 slots. The 30-second slots have sold for an average $2.4 million, a 6.7 percent rise from 2004.

The only rookie to get cold feet so far: DVD/games seller GameZnFlix, which quietly pulled out after announcing in August that it had a fourth-quarter slot.

The pressure on the rookies this year includes more than butting helmets with game ad veterans. They also will be trying to avoid the viewer backlash some advertisers felt after last year's game. An indecency uproar about Janet Jackson's infamous "wardrobe malfunction" at halftime spilled over into criticism of some ads as tasteless.

However, Bob Parsons, founder of Internet domain name seller GoDaddy, believes that the indecency debate will add to this year's viewership. "Everyone will tune in to see how it all shakes out — no pun intended," he says.

Details on some rookies' plans:

• Credit card issuer MBNA will use the Super Bowl to launch its first national TV spot and first national ad campaign. Mark Levitt, director of brand development, says: "We're not just launching a commercial or a campaign, but our brand. We could not think of a better place to do that."

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Gladys Knight & The Pips star in one of two game ads planned.

• Camera maker Olympus bought two 30-second slots in the game, its first Super Bowl TV spots in 24 years. The ads for its m:robe 500 will tout it as the first MP3 player with a built-in digital camera and photo viewer.

"Going on the Super Bowl with this type of investment is definitely a risk. But we see a huge reward there too," marketing chief Martin Lee says.

• Net name seller GoDaddy's Super Bowl TV commercial will be its first. Parsons promises a "unique" commercial that's "never been done before."

• Online recruiter CareerBuilder plans two 30-second ads, and spokeswoman Jennifer Sullivan promises no "slapstick humor or stupid jokes. We're going after pure entertainment."

• Automaker Volvo will use one spot to introduce a V-8 version of its XC90 sport utility vehicle.