GM to skip Super Bowl 2013

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NFL / National Football LeagueThere were four ads for General Motors aired during the 2012 Super Bowl on NBC – if they were purchased at the going rate, the cost would have been about $14M. Next year, however, when CBS has the event, GM will reduce its Super Bowl expenditure to $0.00.


According to a Reuters report, CBS is believed to be asking $4M per 30-second spot, an increase of $500K. GM is saying that while it values the unparalleled reach offered by the Super Bowl, it cannot justify the additional expense.

CBS didn’t comment for the article, but other observers noted that CBS is unlikely to have any trouble whatsoever selling out the event, and they didn’t think the GM decision would likely have any affect whatsoever on pricing.

This isn’t the first time GM has given the Super Bowl a pass – it did so as recently as 2009.

RBR-TVBR observation: The price of the spot is just the starting point when it comes to marketing expense – the extremely high production standards that the event has come to demand can really make it hard to get a little ROI.

However, there are a lot of companies out there that don’t seem to mind at all using the event to build their brand. If our company was #2 in the hearts and minds of Americans, as is the case with GM, we’re not so sure we’d leave the field undefended against the messaging of #1, not to mention #3, #4, #5 and any other # that cares to scrape together $4M to buy half a minute of attention from the majority of Americans at one sitting.