Super Bowl ads reflect tough times in US

[THUNDER HANDS]

Source: Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON - On Sunday when Americans settle down in front of their televisions to watch American football's Super Bowl, many will be hoping to put their worries about the fumbling US economy on hold. But it's going to be hard.

The reminders are everywhere, including on the screen in the form of the Super Bowl ads, which rival the game for entertainment value. Although companies have stumped up a record three million dollars for 30-second Super Bowl ad slots, the ads reflect the woes of the US economy.

Gone are American car manufacturers like General Motors, Ford and Chrysler; in are Japanese and German cars, like Honda, Toyota and Audi. Federal Express will not be running an ad this year, and have said "specifically that it's an economic issue," said David Shoffner, a spokesman for Pavone, the advertising company that since 2004 has hosted the Spotbowl.com website on which Super Bowl-watchers can vote for their favorite ad.

Cost-cutting measures, including a 20 percent salary cut for Federal Express chief executive officer Frederick Smith and a hiring freeze, have been put into effect at the shipping company which is struggling with what Smith has called "some of the worst economic conditions in our 35-year operating history." Taking out a three-million-dollar ad would not have sat well with those measures, even if the commercials reach a huge audience.

"The way a lot of companies justify paying three-million dollars for an ad is by saying -- look at the numbers. The viewership of the game compared to the investment is relatively low compared to other advertising opportunities," said Shoffner. "Take the Oscars: you pay less for the Oscars but you're actually paying more per viewer than during the Super Bowl," he said.



Read more: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/01/31/09/super-bowl-ads-reflect-tough-times-us

[Why Syzygy]

1. I think Fed X

is reaping karma for what they've done with Kinkos, which was one of the finest companies I ever had the pleasure to do business with.

[THUNDER HANDS]

2. what happened to kinkos?

[Hugabear]

7. Kinko's is gone

After FedEx acquired Kinko's, they changed the name to FedEx Kinko's. Now they've completely dropped the Kinko name, it's simply called "FedEx Office".

[Auggie]

3. Our local Kinkos is ten times better under FedEx ownership

[Whoa_Nelly]

4. Cash4Gold has major spot

telling of the national demographically researched populace.

Let's thank our lucky stars that the Budweiser people will still be on TV to entertain us! :beer:

[llmart]

5. The Stupid Bowl.......

just another way to anesthetize the masses. What other country so looks forward to watching ads? Honestly.

[bettyellen]

6. um, most of europe. because the ads are more entertaining than average.

same as us on superbowl sunday. they put more effort into these ads, to catch attention + generate good will + "buzz".
read up,sport

[NashVegas]

8. Superbowl Ads Have Been Pretty Much Sucking Since Bush Took Office

And macho posturing took precedence over creativity.