Millions of sports enthusiasts around the world and in Culver City watched Super Bowl 47 on Sunday. Likely, many tuned in just to watch Super Bowl commercials, just like they do every year.
According to Ad Age, CBS essentially sold out its ad inventory for Super Bowl XLVII at prices averaging between $3.7 million and $3.8 million.
More from Ad Age:
The usual coterie of big sponsors is more or less on board again —hello, Pepsi! hello Bud Light! — accompanied by opportunistic, smaller brands that want to make a big splash, such as Century 21 and GoDaddy.com, both of which are also returning to the game.
In addition to Ms. Patrick and Mr. Fogle, celebrities and pseudo-celebs on the ad roster will include Willem Dafoe, Amy Poehler, Bar Refaeli, Tracy Morgan, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Psy, Kate Upton, Usher and Kaley Cuoco from "The Big Bang Theory."
Last year, Doritos had two of the three most popular commercials of the evening with Bud Light's "Weego" commerical taking top honors.
According to the Huffington Post, Coca-Cola and Volkswagen entries generated complaints about racial stereotyping. A teaser for Mercedes-Benz showcasing a supermodel's body has already drawn the ire of some media watchdogs.
From that report:
The bright lights of controversy don't always flatter the advertisers. Coke generated complaints and a CNN debate by pundits when Arab-American groups sharply criticized its ad as racist. The commercial shows an Arab pulling a camel through the desert as cowboys, Las Vegas show girls and a crowd of marauders like those in "Mad Max" race by to reach a gigantic bottle of Coke.
Warren David, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, complained that U.S. media portrayals of Arabs are too often stereotypical: "Why is it that Arabs are always shown as either oil-rich sheiks, terrorists, or belly dancers?"
The soft drink giant called the group on Thursday to apologize and held what it called a "productive conversation" but said it would still show the commercial.
What do you think? Which ads were your favorites, or least favorites? Were any of the ads offensive to you or your family? Should there be limits on what advertisers can do during the Super Bowl?
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