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    The Week

    The rising cost of Super Bowl commercials: By the numbers

    By The Week's Editorial Staff | The Week – Wed, Jan 4, 2012

    Dozens of companies have shelled out a record $3.5 million each for 30-second ad spots during the upcoming big game. Is that actually a bargain?

    Months before the Super Bowl unfolds on Feb. 5, ad space for this year's telecast was all sold out. According to The Wall Street Journal, the last 30-second slot was purchased by Thanksgiving, despite a record $3.5 million average price tag. And that's just the fee for air time — companies will pay untold millions more to produce their competitively "memorable" commercials. Here, a numerical look at how the skyrocketing costs break down — and why these pricey spots may not be such a bad deal after all:

    $3.5 million
    Cost of a typical 30-second ad during this year's Feb. 5 Super Bowl telecast, according to The Wall Street Journal

    $3 million
    Cost of a 30-second spot last year

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    59
    Percentage rise in Super Bowl ad prices since 2001, "demonstrating the impact of the Super Bowl — the top trophy sports event programming — on the advertising industry," says Erin Carlson at The Hollywood Reporter

    $4 million
    Top price paid this year for a 30-second Super Bowl spot in a prime-time slot

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    70
    Number of 30-second ad spots that have been sold

    48 million
    Times that Volkswagen's 2011 Darth Vader commercial has been viewed on YouTube, on top of the millions of impressions it made during last year's Super Bowl telecast, says Dorothy Pomerantz at Forbes. "Popular ads have long lives as viral phenomenons."

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    $100 million
    Estimated value of the publicity VW's Darth Vader spot received after its Super Bowl debut. "When you put it in that light," says Jordan Weissmann at The Atlantic, "$3.5 million doesn't seem like such a bad deal."

    58
    How much more memorable Super Bowl ads are, expressed in percentage, compared to the average TV commercial, according to Nielsen

    111 million
    Total number of viewers for last year's Super Bowl

    46
    Percentage of U.S. households who tuned in to last year's game

    $12 million
    Amount Chrysler reportedly spent on a two-minute ad last year, the most expensive in history

    Sources: Atlantic, CNN, Forbes, Hollywood Reporter, Huff. Post, Sports Betting World, USA Today, Wall St. Journal

    View this article on TheWeek.com Get 4 Free Issues of The Week

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    12 comments

    • william
      william  •  Raleigh, North Carolina  •  4 mths ago
      keep that money and use it to give your employees a raise
    • Smoking pot with robocop
      Smoking pot with robocop  •  Austin, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      Wardrobe malfunction, priceless. lol
    • Dumby
      Dumby  •  Minneapolis, Minnesota  •  4 mths ago
      It's insane. The amount of money Big Business makes is so far beyond the 99% it is unreal. Big Business are like Gods to us. All, hail, Money!
    • outraged!
      outraged!  •  4 mths ago
      greed. it is all greed from the players and advertisers. spend millions on ad's, but not a penny more for employees!
    • D P
      D P  •  4 mths ago
      GASP! You can't say Super Bowl anymore! They NFL has banned that, after spending so much time and effort promoting it.
    • abhorrent behavior
      abhorrent behavior  •  St Louis, Missouri  •  4 mths ago
      Who won the Super Bowl?
    • Steve B
      Steve B  •  Tucson, Arizona  •  4 mths ago
      Green Bay FC? I think not.
    • GrayPlayer
      GrayPlayer  •  Granby, Connecticut  •  4 mths ago
      Money spent on 30 second spots on the "Blooper Bowl" would be better spent on reduced prices and research and development. Did I say "R & D", shame on me. Should have said "on executive bonus and stock options!" My bad!
      I do not patronize companies who advertise on any media. Prefer store brand products. My choice is based on price and personal preference, not some "shill" touting the latest and greatest.
    • Brenda S, CP
      Brenda S, CP  •  Burlington, North Carolina  •  4 mths ago
      thank-goodness for fast forward....
      • Lane
        Lane 4 mths ago
        Really?? The Super Bowl is about the only time I look forward to commercials, usually the best ones produced!
    • Expressions
      Expressions  •  4 mths ago
      AMERICA GREED EXEMPLIFIED YET AGAIN..... !!!! BY THE TIME YOUR KIDS GROW UP THESE GREED #$%$ PEOPLE WILL HAVE THE COST AT $1,000,000,000,000. A SECOND.. this is what this kind of madness leads to.. and this is what Ivy League degree riding white men come up with... when America figures out it is not Aliens from Space that is crashing and over inflating everything.. It is done by Greedy white men.. who have no idea the damage they do to the nation and the future.. but this is what Ivy League schools teach them.. Grab for Greed and destroy the future and make everything unaffordable until you destroy the nation.this is not racist, this is about a need for America to respect 'all" Americans, and get diversity in decision making, and get these degree riding elitist out of destroying the country so they can live lavish at the expense of destroying a nation.. and people need to awaken to this, and get rid of the 'white man is right delusion'... when we see these men continue to destroy everything in America, for their elitist greed.. We failed.. the day we hailed a degree above the common sense and the common people. Now we see the result of their trained and groomed sense of entitlement to rip and rob the people blind and make life unaffordable, all so they can live in luxury at the expense of the nation and its people.. It's no different than slave masters mentality...
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Centreville, Virginia  •  4 mths ago
      I think the NFL is on the downswing. In ten years, true football will be here.
      • D P
        D P 4 mths ago
        You mean Rugby? :)
      • Concerned
        Concerned 4 mths ago
        Pro soccor will NEVER be popular in the USA...it isa boring, stupid and a game for sissies.....how people can get excited over soccor is beyond me...must be a lot of stupid, boring people out there
    • Osama
      Osama  •  4 mths ago
      the nfl will soon be shut down--its too violent
      • D P
        D P 4 mths ago
        Pff, too violent? You must mean what the players do OFF the field. There's too many rules in American football. We need a national rugby league.
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