Super Bowls Ads, Are They Worth it?

Recently in American Studies class, we have discussed advertisement and its affect on the consumer. Looking at an ad for a sock company from the early 20th century, our class saw how drastically magazine advertisement has evolved through the present day. Ads nowadays have significantly less text, and choose promote sexual humor more than ever before. Today, we also see an alternative form of advertising everyday-commercials. Commercials are a unique form of advertisement as they increase sales in a much more visually appealing fashion than a more traditional magazine or newspaper ad. However, commercials come with a price. CBS sold more than sixty slots charging around $3 million for a 30 second slot. This doesn't include the costs for producing the commercials. This is why there are no low budget companies advertising during the super bowl. Still, are these costs worth it? Worth what? Ideally, a company hopes that their commercial will increase sales to the extent that they will make a profit after paying for the T.V. spot. One particular Super Bowl commercial that caught my attention was the following Doritos ad:



Although its too early to tell how Doritos sales will fluctuate in 2010 from this ad, Doritos reported that after their 2007 Super Bowl advertisement, their sales increased by 12%. Their ad this year may drive another significant increase in sales, as it will be remembered for the boy's comedic line "Keep your hands off my momma, keep your hands off my Doritos," one that will keep consumers laughing. Consumers are more inclined to buy a product they think they will enjoy or a product they would like to associate themselves with. Of course, not all commercials are as catchy as this Doritos one, and companies can invest alot of money in their commercial's production and T.V. spot, but not observe an increase in their products sales. This is why more traditional forms of advertising are probably more beneficial for smaller companies wishing to advertise their products without going out on a limb and purchasing T.V. spots for commercials. Which form of advertisement do you see as most appealing? The more "conservative" text-based newspaper or magazine ads, or more sexually humorous T.V. commercials? At the same time, which of these two advertisement forms do you think increase sales more efficiently for a smaller scale business owner?