Super Bowl Ads Take Up Strike Slack

With scripted shows stalled, sponsors bet on only game in town
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 28, 2008 11:44 AM CST
Super Bowl Ads Take Up Strike Slack
This still image taken from a commercial to be aired before the upcoming Super Bowl and provided by PepsiCo, shows two actors, Brian Dowling and Darren Therriault, who are also PepsiCo employees, in a spot entitled "Bob's House". The pre-game advertisement features a joke that originates from the deaf...   (Associated Press)

Advertisers are betting big to get their messages across during Sunday's Super Bowl, and the renewal of the annual competition for viewers' eyeballs is especially fierce this year because of the Writers Guild strike, reports the AP. With scripted shows in reruns, advertisers are feeling pressure to get the most out of their spots during, literally, the only game in town.

More buzz than usual surrounds the game, which pits the undefeated New England Patriots against the Cinderella New York Giants—one of the few marquee match-ups in recent Super Bowls. The record viewership of 94.1 million, established in 1996, is considered beatable. "There are so few media vehicles out there that reach that size audience,” said a media buyer. (More NFL stories.)

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