Highbrow Magazine - tv ads https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/tv-ads en How the Super Bowl Evolved From Football Game to Entertainment Extravaganza https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/11250-how-super-bowl-evolved-football-game-entertainment-extravaganza <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Sun, 02/07/2021 - 14:18</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1superbowl_jimberg13-wikimedia.jpg?itok=3g24FpwY"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1superbowl_jimberg13-wikimedia.jpg?itok=3g24FpwY" width="480" height="394" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><strong><em>This article was originally published in </em><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-super-bowls-evolution-from-football-game-to-entertainment-extravaganza-72046" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">The Conversation</a><em>. It’s republished here with permission under a Creative Commons license.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p>In just 50 years, the Super Bowl has become one of the biggest “shared experiences” in American culture, up there with attending religious services, voting in presidential elections and playing Pokémon Go.</p> <p> </p> <p>But curiously, many of the tens of millions who tune in don’t actually want to watch football.</p> <p> </p> <p>Perhaps it’s because the game itself has never been all that exciting, with the outcome rarely a close call. As a response, it seems the NFL has created a thriving, celebratory atmosphere around the game.</p> <p> </p> <p>So how did a battle of gridiron gladiators become second fiddle to a flashy spectacle of singers, fireworks and advertisements?</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2superbowl_senior_airman_carlin_leslie_-_whiteman_airforce.jpg" style="height:399px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>The Super (boring) Bowl</strong></p> <p>The Super Bowl is generally super boring – at least, in terms of the typically lopsided score. The game is so boring that a rehash of all 50 of the past Super Bowls finds that the average margin of victory is more than 14 points. Only 18 of the games have been decided by seven points or fewer, while only seven have been settled by a field goal or less.</p> <p> </p> <p>The first 20 Super Bowls produced only five close games, and criticisms of the lack of parity in the other 15 drowned out the excitement of the handful of close contests. The average margin of victory for Super Bowls I to XX was over two touchdowns. Sports columnists in the 1970s and 1980s dismissed Super Bowls as “hopelessly” and “unbearably dull,” “sleep-inducing” and “lacking high drama.” Even former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle admitted that the day was “probably more of an event than simply a game.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Still, by the 1980s, the Super Bowl had become a de facto American holiday. But much of the public remained indifferent about the game itself. For example, prior to Super Bowl XXI, one poll indicated that 40 percent of viewers didn’t even care who won.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3superbowl_royharriman-pixabay.jpg" style="height:378px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>The show must go on</strong></p> <p>Because of its inability to consistently guarantee a reasonably competitive championship game, the NFL decided to ramp up the production of a spectacle, with expensive – sometimes controversial – halftime shows and pregame showcases distracting from the football.</p> <p> </p> <p>Super Bowl halftime performances started out as relatively simple affairs featuring university marching bands and faded pop stars. But as early as Super Bowl XI in 1977 – when the league contracted with the Walt Disney Company to produce a halftime show titled “It’s a Small World” – the NFL began to craft a new production template.</p> <p> </p> <p>‘It’s a Small World’ was the first highly produced Super Bowl halftime show.</p> <p>The 1993 halftime show for Super Bowl XXVII featured pop icon Michael Jackson, the first in a long list of high-energy halftime productions built around top musical artists. Megastars of all genres suddenly began to covet a Super Bowl gig. The headliners of these shows soon took their own steps to redirect the focus of millions of television viewers away from football and onto themselves, whether it was Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction during Super Bowl XXXVIII or Beyoncé’s Super Bowl 50 political statement. This year, the NFL will shell out US$10 million to produce Lady Gaga’s halftime show.</p> <p> </p> <p>The NFL’s schemes for pumping up off-field excitement rather than relying on the drama (or, more frequently, the lack of drama) on the field soon moved to other aspects of the event. The national anthem soon became its own highly produced and coveted gig, joining pregame fireworks and military flyovers.</p> <p> </p> <p>Whitney Houston’s booming rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” for Super Bowl XXV, performed weeks after the U.S. entered the Gulf War, set a new standard.</p> <p> </p> <p>Not everyone could live up to Houston’s example. At Super Bowl XLV, Christina Aguilera wilted in the spotlight when she forgot the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” stealing some of the postgame commentary of what turned out to be one of the closer games, a 31-to-25 victory by the Green Bay Packers over the Pittsburgh Steelers.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4superbowl_pete_sekesan_-_wikimedia.jpg" style="height:349px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>A commercialized holiday just like the rest?</strong></p> <p>The NFL’s strategic marriage to television has also diverted attention away from the game on the field. In 1967, advertising rates for a 30-second commercial spot cost a modest $42,500.</p> <p> </p> <p>In the years since, they’ve escalated to become the most expensive advertising time in the history of television. After 1985, in response to the huge impact of Apple’s legendary “1984” commercial, advertising rates soared to over $500,000 for a 30-second spot. This trend sparked the emergence of the “Ad Bowl,” an unofficial but hyper-intense marketing competition to produce the most creative and memorable television commercial targeting the Super Bowl’s enormous captive audience, which hit 111.9 million viewers last year. Within a decade of the debut of “1984,” advertising rates doubled to $1 million for a 30-second spot. For Super Bowl 50 in 2016, the price reached $5 million. The Ad Bowl has further eroded the focus on football, drawing in viewers who claim that they watch the game more for the commercials.</p> <p> </p> <p>In recent years, the Super Bowl has actually become much more competitive: Seven points or fewer have decided six of the last 10 games.</p> <p> </p> <p>Yet better games haven’t produced an audience primarily interested in good football. A 2016 Huffington Post poll found that millennials were less likely to be interested in “the game itself” than in the commercials and the halftime show. The same poll showed that the older you are, the more important football is in your Super Bowl celebration.</p> <p> </p> <p>Interestingly, a similar trend of commercialization seems to now color most holidays. Independence Day, Labor Day and Memorial Day celebrations have become less about honoring the men and women who serve our country and more about backyard barbecues. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day have become more about mattress sales and three-day weekends than recognizing those individuals’ great deeds. The same flurry of commercialism has dampened the religious foundations of Thanksgiving and Christmas.</p> <p> </p> <p>Even with the recent spate of close contests, it’s unlikely we’ll see a major revamping of Super Bowl productions to focus more explicitly on football. To those, however, who hunger for the halcyon days of old when the Super Bowl Sunday was about the contest on the gridiron – and not the hoopla at halftime or the barrage of ads – we’d point out that a quality football game has almost never been the core component of this distinctly American holiday.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5superbowl_all-pro_reels_-_wikimedia.jpg" style="height:400px; width:600px" /></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bios:</strong></p> <p><strong><em>Peter M. Hopsicker is Associate Professor of Kinesiology at Penn State.</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Mark Dyreson is Professor of Kinesiology, Affiliate Professor of History, Director of Research and Educational Programs for the Penn State Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Penn State.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>This article was originally published in </em><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-super-bowls-evolution-from-football-game-to-entertainment-extravaganza-72046" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">The Conversation</a><em>. It’s republished here with permission under a Creative Commons license.</em></strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong><em>Senor Airman Carlin Leslie (<a href="https://www.whiteman.af.mil/News/Article/324251/19th-muns-airman-b-2-represent-team-whiteman-at-kansas-city-chiefs-playoff-game/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Whiteman Airforce Base</a>, Creative Commons)</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Roy Harriman (<a href="https://pixabay.com/photos/kansas-city-chiefs-kansas-city-4779214/" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Pixabay</a>, Creative Commons)</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Pete Sekesan (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Destiny_Child_at_Super_Bowl_XLVII_halftime_show.jpg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikimedia</a>, Creative Commons)</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>Jimberg13 (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SuperBowl_I_-_Los_Angeles_Coliseum_(cropped).jpg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikimedia</a>, Creative Commons)</em></strong></p> <p><strong><em>All-Pro Reels (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tampa_Bay_Buccaneers_(50833225907).jpg" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Wikimedia</a>, Creative Commons)</em></strong></p> <p> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/super-bowl-1" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">super bowl</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/kansas-city-chiefs" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">kansas city chiefs</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tampa-bay-buccaneers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">tampa bay buccaneers</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/half-time-show" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">half-time show</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/super-bowl-ads" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">super bowl ads</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tv-ads" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">tv ads</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/super-bowl-commercials" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">super bowl commercials</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/michael-jackson" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">michael jackson</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/beyonce" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">beyonce</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Peter M. Hopsicker and Mark Dyerson</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Sun, 07 Feb 2021 19:18:36 +0000 tara 10148 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/11250-how-super-bowl-evolved-football-game-entertainment-extravaganza#comments A Look at Political Ads During Virginia’s Gubernatorial Race https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3177-look-political-ads-during-virginia-s-gubernatorial-race <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 11/08/2013 - 10:22</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1vaads.jpg?itok=xUUaQCdg"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1vaads.jpg?itok=xUUaQCdg" width="480" height="305" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From the <a href="http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/">Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group</a> and our content partner, <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/11/tv-air-wars-in-va-govs-race-si-en-espanol-not-so-much.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> Tuesday's Virginia gubernatorial election was ground zero for partisan strategists hoping to gain enough momentum to carry their party through the 2014 midterms and beyond. Outside groups spent furiously, as a win in the truly 'purple' Commonwealth would serve as a springboard for future electoral victories. Two of the biggest storylines in the Virginia race (aside from the much-publicized scandals) were the role of women and Hispanic voters. Ads from Planned Parenthood and Democrat Terry McAuliffe's campaign blasted Republican nominee Ken Cuccinelli (currently the state's attorney general) for his stances on abortion, contraceptives and divorce. Interestingly, less money appeared to be devoted to wooing Hispanics, at least when it comes to TV ads.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Ad files collected by Sunlight from the largest Spanish language TV station in the Washington area -- the state's largest media market, and the one with the highest percentage of Hispanic viewers -- suggest there was little competition for the state's burgeoning Latino vote. As of the week before the election, there were only three ad buys for the gubernatorial race in WFDC's 2013 political ad file (compared to scores for other area stations). All were in support of McAuliffe -- two were purchased directly by his campaign and one Spanish-language ad by People for The American Way (see an example below), a liberal 'dark money' group supporting the Democrat.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The relative pittance spent to attract the Hispanic vote contrasts sharply with the efforts underway to court other constituencies; the buy at WFDC totaled $105,115 in a race that has drawn millions in advertising from outside groups. Data on advertising expenditures indicate that the majority of this outside spending came from well-financed special interests with narrow policy agendas. The vast majority of these outside dollars supported McAuliffe. A review of the race's top outside spenders -- compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project -- combined with political advertisements gathered by Sunlight's Political Ad Hawk and data from Influence Explorer, sheds a little more light on the strategies of the outside groups that jockeyed for Virginians' votes. These figures represent the ad money spent at the major news affiliates in the state's four biggest markets. Though not all-inclusive, these numbers provide a reasonable picture of the Virginia ad wars.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Here's a look at some of the top-spending outside groups and links to some of their ads. Estimates on spending come from VPAP, which has been totaling spending in four of Virginia's seven TV markets.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>NextGen Climate Action (Virginia Climate Voters): $2,400,585</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> The NextGen Climate Action Committee -- the super PAC behind Virginia Climate Voters -- is the brainchild of former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer. After retiring from a lucrative career at Farrallon Capital Management, Steyer turned his attention to political advocacy and quickly became one of the left's highest-spending political activists. His national efforts have mostly revolved around environmental issues and his foray into the Commonwealth race is no different: Virgina Climate Voters' ads have hammered Cuccinelli for his climate change skepticism and his office's investigation of a University of Virginia scientist during his tenure as state Attorney General.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The super PAC has become a formidable player on the national stage thanks in large part to contributions from the group's billionaire founder: Follow the Unlimited Money shows that in the year 2013, Steyer had personally contributed $4.25 million to the committee as of Sept. 12.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Recently, NextGen spent big in the Massachusetts special election for U.S. Senate, pouring hundreds of thousands into the race in support of then-congressman Ed Markey, D-Mass., over primary challenger Stephen Lynch and Republican Gabriel Gomez. Steyer jumped in to the race -- in spite of Markey's own protests -- over Lynch's support of the Keystone XL pipeline. Markey's won the Senate race.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Independence</strong><strong> USA PAC: $1,568,550</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Former NYC mayor and billionaire media mogul Michael Bloomberg has become a national pariah for guns rights groups and a hero to those pushing for tighter restrictions on firearms. A Republican turned independent, Bloomberg is channeling his considerable fortune nationally through his Independence USA super PAC and is targeting lawmakers both Democratic and Republican lawmakers who have opposed gun control efforts.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The gun control debate hits home in Virginia, where on April 16, 2007 a shooter killed 32 people at the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg. In spite of a history of mental illness, the killer passed multiple background checks to purchase the guns later used in the shooting. The images of perpetrators from several of the worst mass shootings in recent years are flashed during an ad buy from Independence USA that attacked Cuccinelli for his unwillingness to close Virginia's "gun show loophole," which may allow individuals to purchase guns without undergoing a background check.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Like NextGen, Independence USA receives the bulk of its funds from its wealthy founder.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Bloomberg's most recent electoral effort -- the Colorado recall elections -- ultimately failed: Two Democratic legislators who faced recall votes over their support of tightening gun restrictions were booted from office despite hundreds of thousands of dollars in outside spending from the mayor.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2VAads.jpg" style="width: 650px; height: 363px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>National Education Association: $519,054</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> The public school teachers union -- the "nation's largest professional employee organization" according to its website -- is a major player in almost every aspect of the political sphere. From K Street, to the regulatory process, to the more than $382 million in campaign contributions it has doled out over the years, the NEA is one of the nation's most powerful voices when it comes to shaping education legislation.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Cuccinelli supported charter schools and vouchers for Virginia students -- in opposition to the NEA's stance -- and while McAuliffe has not shared his stance on charters he has benefitted from supportive ads for his plans to decrease class sizes and the amount of standardized testing in schools.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Influence Explorer data shows the union gives most of its campaign cash to political action committees, the candidates it supports are overwhelmingly Democratic.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Planned Parenthood Action Fund: $462,215 </strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> The polarizing women's health group has been a boon to McAuliffe's gubernatorial hopes, unleashing numerous attack ads against Cuccinelli. Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood's president, wrote in a Huffington Post op-ed that Cuccinelli's socially conservative stance on abortion and contraceptives is to blame for his lagging support among women -- calling the Republican slate "the most anti-woman ticket we've ever seen from a major party."</p> <p>  </p> <p> A recent poll from Christopher Newport University shows McAuliffe leading Cuccinelli among women voters by 16 points. Decisive support from the female demographic may be the key to McAuliffe's success -- polls show him leading by seven points overall.</p> <p>  </p> <p> On K Street, unsurprisingly, two of Planned Parenthood's most frequent lobbying issues are "Health Issues" and "Family, Abortion &amp; Adoption." While on the campaign trail the group supports numerous high-profile Democrats and has given over $130,000 in hard money contributions to Barack Obama.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Most recently, its super PAC spent more than $75,000 in independent expenditures to help Markey claim the U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Common Sense Virginia PAC: $387,080</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Common Sense Virginia, the only Republican-leaning outside spending group to make the list of top five outside spenders in the gubernatorial race, has targeted Terry McAuliffe over his budget plan, which the group contends will raise taxes on all Virginians.</p> <p>  </p> <p> However, the <em>Wall Street Journal's</em> Washington Wire reports that the conservative group diverted $190,000 in funds it had planned to use in supporting the Cuccinelli ticket in order to help Republican candidates further down the ticket.</p> <p>  </p> <p> (Note: While VPAP included Americans for Prosperity in its list of the largest spenders in outside ads, we did not do so for this report as AFP has not bought any ads in Virginia that advocate for or against Cuccinelli or McAuliffe)</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/terry-mcauliffe" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">terry mcauliffe</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/ken-cuccinelli" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">ken cuccinelli</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/virginia-governors-race" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">virginia governor&#039;s race</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tea-party" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Tea Party</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/virginia-democrats" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">virginia democrats</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/tv-ads" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">tv ads</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/political-ads" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">political ads</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Peter Olsen-Phillips</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 08 Nov 2013 15:22:36 +0000 tara 3823 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3177-look-political-ads-during-virginia-s-gubernatorial-race#comments