Budweiser Funneling Ad Dollars to COVID-19 Vaccine Awareness
For the first time in 37 years, Budweiser skipped advertising during the big game. Instead, it ran its Super Bowl ad digitally during the week leading up to the game and is funneling marketing dollars to support COVID-19 vaccine awareness, according to an article from CNBC.
The company said it will donate part of its advertising airtime to the Ad Council and Covid Collaborative’s Vaccine Education Initiative. Alice Sylvester, co-founder of a marketing measurement analytics firm said “Budweiser is taking purpose-driven marketing to the next level and differentiating itself from Super Bowl advertisers whose commercials will air during the game.”
Pepsi, Coke Sat Out Game-Time Commercials
Several other big brands decided to sit out advertising during the Super Bowl. Iconic brands that have been mainstays of past Super Bowls, such as Pepsi and Coke, did not run commercials during the game. So reports CBS News.
Coca-Cola Company said it made the “difficult choice” to skip the game to ensure it is “investing in the right resources during these unprecedented times.” Coca-Cola sales has been hurt from closures of restaurants, sports stadium and movie theaters.
Pepsi, meanwhile, had a presence during the game, just not via a commercial. PepsiCo. sponsored the halftime show and chose to focus on that. While the firm did not run a Pepsi commercial, it did run ads for Mountain Dew and Frito-Lay products, some of its other brands during the game.
Many of the New Advertisers Have Done Well During the Pandemic
Ads cost $5.5 million for 30-seconds and there were a bunch of companies advertising during the Super Bowl for the first time. Many of them are firms that have seen their business grow during the pandemic. So reports CNBC.
The new advertisers include:
- Robinhood, a trading app
- Fiverr, a platform for freelance workers
- DoorDash, an online food delivery firm
- Vroom, a used car company
- Mercari, a resale platform
- Scotts Miracle-Gro, a gardening supplies company
- Indeed, an employment website
- DraftKings, the online gambling company
- Chipolte, the Mexican food chain
Derek Rucker, of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said this year’s Super Bowl advertising was tricky. He teaches advertising strategy there. Rucker says firms that play it too safe or are boring may be seen as a “downer” but they also don’t want to go too far in the other direction and come off as “disconnected” or “irrelevant.”