About This Quiz
A single 30-second ad during the Super Bowl costs millions of dollars, and will be viewed by more than 100 million people. Test your knowledge on these iconic (and expensive) commercials.Many of the most famous Super Bowl commercials are 60 seconds long, although the cost is still usually discussed in terms of 30-second increments.
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Commercial cost varies depending on what part of the game it's broadcast during, as well as the advertising package deals the advertiser may have negotiated with the network.
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Scott directed Apple's famous "1984" ad, as well as Super Bowl ads for Nissan.
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"1984" has become legendary for being the first big "event" commercial. The longest Super Bowl commercial was a Chrysler commercial broadcast in 2011.
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Using ad costs adjusted for inflation, advertisers got about 100 viewers per dollar until 1983, when the number began to fall. Today's ads are seen by 30 to 40 viewers per dollar spent.
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This is known as the ad inventory. The network can't sell all of it, because they'll use some to promote their own shows.
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The two basketball greats competed in a game of HORSE to see who could do the best trick shot.
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CBS, FOX and NBC negotiate a joint contract to broadcast NFL games (including the Super Bowl). The Super Bowl rotates among the three networks over the course of the contract.
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Some companies have their own in-house advertising and marketing divisions.
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The game was broadcast simultaneously by CBS and NBC, and the average commercial cost was roughly $40,000.
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The actual number is about half that.
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In fact, it's increased more than twenty-fold since then: Super Bowl I had about 50,000 viewers. The 2011 Super Bowl had 11 million.
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That number has grown exponentially -- for many years, the inflation-adjusted rate was about a penny per viewer.
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Many Super Bowl commercials are re-aired in the weeks after the game, and today they receive hundreds of millions of views on YouTube. Some of the more famous commercials, like "1984" and Budweiser's Clydesdale 9/11 tribute, do have added mystique because they were only shown once.
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Industry analysts examine the performance of each commercial, how much it benefits the advertiser, the impact on brand recognition and other factors. Many people claim to watch the Super Bowl just to see the commercials.
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Anheuser-Busch always runs multiple commercials, sometimes as many as ten. The only limit is the advertiser's budget.
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It was an ad for Reebok.
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It actually debuted online and wasn't actually shown during the Super Bowl.
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The bulk of the money networks make on NFL rights come from regular season and playoff games, although the Super Bowl does contribute a big percentage in the years that the network broadcasts the game.
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This used to be the case, but today commercials are debuted on YouTube weeks before the game to help build interest and hype for the actual broadcast.
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