Detroit’s Big 3 won’t advertise during Super Bowl XLIII

All of Detroit’s Big 3 automakers will be skipping the opportunity to advertise during the Super Bowl on Sunday. General Motors decided back in September to skip the big game for the first time in 10 years. What’s the reason for not advertising during the game? Well other than the most obvious reasons, all three Detroit automakers might have faced a huge backlash from tax payers while operating on $17.4 billion in federal loans.

“We were already operating under reduced operating budgets,” GM spokeswoman Kelly Cusinato told the Detroit Free Press. “Secondly, we didn”t have a major vehicle launch that aligned.”

The last time Ford ran a Super Bowl spot was in 2006 while Chrysler LLC’s last ad ran in 2007.

The cost and the payoff of a Super Bowl ad is massive. Last year’s Patriots and Giants game was viewed by 97.5 million people nationwide; however, a 30-second spot went for a whopping $2.7 million. 12 of the spots sold this year by NBC went for $3 million each.

GM’s Cadillac will run a pregame and a post-game commercial and will also sponsor the most valuable player ceremony. Those sponsorships will cost significantly less.

Source: Detroit Free Press