While Packers fans are disappointed Green Bay won't be in the Super Bowl, eyes will still be glued to the game in-between timeouts. Commercials are just as much of a draw for the big game as the action on the gridiron.
And it's for good reason.
"If you have a successful spot and it has life beyond the game, it will more than pay for itself," Dan Fietsam, Chief Creative Officer for Laughlin Constable said. Laughlin Constable is a full-service ad agency in Milwaukee.
Super Bowl commercials can create lasting memories for viewers. Which is why the price for a 30 second spot is running a cool $5 million this year. Plus, the production costs can run from $300,000 to $1 million.
However, Fietsam says it's still worth it.
"It's a sizable investment," Fietsam said. "But if you do it well, connect it to your product and people really like it, and a lot of people like it, it will more than pay for itself. It's the Super Bowl of advertising as well."
Fietsam has produced a handful of Super Bowl ads, including five in the 2007 Super Bowl. However, it wasn't so concise. They started with 200 scripts they pitched to Anheuser-Busch. That was boiled down to 30 commercials they fully produced and shot. Then, of those 30, five made it on to the Super Bowl, which he said was a big accomplishment.
But the days leading up to the big game were the worst.
"It's nerve racking for all involved up until the game," Fietsam said. "You don't know. No matter what you think, no matter what your experience, you don't know what's going to take off that exact day."
Fietsam says people can expect a lot of celebrity cameos this year.
However, one Super Bowl commercial staple fans will miss; the Budweiser Clydesdales. He says the company chose not to use them for the first time in 17 years.
