Hello everyone,
CBS revealed that the network no longer declares a game a sellout because brands often want to make last-second changes to their buys, which can sometimes open up opportunities for brands to grab a spot. Ad sales chief Jo Ann Ross said CBS is working with several brands to potentially expand (or cut down) the length of their spots from 30 seconds to 45 seconds or even a minute. Many brands have already cut or released longer versions of their ads.
According to TV/Media editor Jason Lynch, ads are selling for between $5.1 million and $5.3 million per 30-second spot, according to sources close to negotiations, with the strongest categories including beer, soda, automotive, theatrical and tech.
Before we get into Super Bowl ads, check out these ingenious low-budget pre-roll ads from a California supermarket that play off of this year's popular commercials.
Fiat Chrysler's Super Bowl Blitz contains zero Super Bowl ads
On Wednesday, Fiat Chrysler was coy with us. They released three ads, but wouldn't reveal its actual Big Game plans. On Thursday, the company released two more videos. Again, no additional info about a Super Bowl buy. Now we know why: Fiat Chrysler is sitting out the Super Bowl. Sure, Jeep, Dodge and Ram have Super Bowl-themed ads, but the 100 million people who watch the game won't see them. Instead FCA will hope to catch eyeballs online.
Audi with a last-second punchline
I won't spoil the twist at the end of Audi's ad, but finally, we've got an ad that delivers a last-second laugh. So many of the spots we've seen so far try to go for laughs throughout instead of building to one big laugh at the end. Tip of our hat to Audi.
Sprint channels Bo Jackson
I'll be honest: Bo Jackson was just about the last celebrity I would have ever guessed would show up in a Super Bowl ad. But here we are and in 2019, Bo Jackson will be in football pads holding a keytar-playing mermaid. That's a sentence I never thought I'd type. Thanks Sprint!
Devour releases its full censored ad
Devour may catch some flack on Super Bowl Sunday for an ad that mocks porn addiction, as the star of the ad has a frozen food addiction. The 30-second ad from David Miami will air in the third quarter.
Speaking of David Miami, we got an inside look at how an agency of 46 people created not one, not two but three Super Bowl ads. The agency is responsible for Devour, Budweiser and Burger King's spot (on YouTube, two of those ads are among the most-watched ads so far, and Burger King will surely be one of the most talked about ads).
Who's In
—Google will run two ads
—T-Mobile will have an ad in every quarter
—Hulu will tout The Handmaid's Tale ahead of Season 3
—SimpliSafe's Teaser has a 1990s Masterlock vibe to it
—Microsoft Celebrates Disabled Young Gamers in a Touching Super Bowl Spot
—Ludacris and golfer Rickie Fowler show up in Mercedes' ad
—Michael Buble is certain we're saying Bubly wrong
Volvo doesn't want you to watch the game
Why watch the game when you can take a virtual test drive of a Volvo? The car brand will give three car subscriptions away to the three people who watch the virtual test drive the longest without looking away. Using eye-tracking technology, Volvo will end your test drive if you stop looking at your phone screen.
Here are some of our favorite Super Bowl stats so far
—Americans who watch the game spend an average of $81 on it
—38 percent of millennials would reschedule their wedding if it fell on the Super Bowl
—17.2 million Americans will call out of work on Monday
