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Super Bowl Ads? Who Cares?
BALTIMORE -- Only 7% of U.S. adults will watch Super Bowl XXXIX just to watch the commercials according to the annual Eisner Communications Super Bowl Ad Survey. That's down 2% from last year and the lowest number in years.According to Eisner's Senior Vice President, David Blum, "What we may be seeing is viewers lowering expectations about the commercials in light of extensive publicity on how docile the game, the halftime show and the ads will be this year rather than specific backlash from the infamous wardrobe malfunction incident," said David Blum, senior vice president of Eisner.The number of adults who are less likely to watch the game because of the Janet Jackson incident last year (17%) is offset by the number who report they are more likely to watch this year's broadcast (15%), the survey found. Not surprisingly, most of those more likely to watch are men, while females constitute the majority of those less likely to tune in.Likewise, other well-publicized incidents such as the NBA brawl in Detroit, the Terrell Owens/Desperate Housewives Monday Night Football promotion look to have little effect on probable Super Bowl and Super Bowl advertising viewership. "While these situations generated tremendous attention and media hype, the attention has not affected the consumer's desire to watch the country's premier spectacle and sporting event," Blum remarked.Almost 30% of the adult population has heard about Airborne's cold remedy commercial that was rejected by Fox Television for the Super Bowl because it shows a naked backside of Mickey Rooney for 2 to 3 seconds. Interestingly, only 35% of those who have heard about it want to see it. Of those 69% who had not heard about the ad, a whopping 79% did not want to see the commercial."Whether they want to see an 80-year-old's naked butt is immaterial," Blum commented. "Without spending the $2.4 million to run the spot in the Super Bowl, they reached half the audience that would have tuned in with the publicity the rejected ad has generated."Other key survey findings include:33% of adults will watch the big game because they always do -- the highest number ever recorded. 8% have a rooting interest in either team or the match-up, obviously concentrated in the northeastern United States.15% will watch for a chance to get with friends and relatives, up slightly from 2004.About half of those watching expect to catch most or all of the halftime extravaganza. 13% said they would watch counter programming, 25% will tune out until the beginning of the second half and 14% will watch only a small portion of Paul McCartney and company.Eisner Communications, now in its 65th year, is a full-service, integrated communications agency with a 150-person staff. Eisner ranks among the top 10 independent agencies in the country today. Year-end 2004 billings are $327 million. Visit Eisner Communications: www.eisner-communications.com"