Production Cost vs. Placement Cost During the Big Game

We all look forward to the Super Bowl for two main reasons. First, getting together with friends and family, ordering pizza, drinking (root) beer and putting on our eating pants, and secondly for the commercials. While ordering a pizza and driving to a friends house might only cost you about 30 bucks total, the second favorite pastime costs companies a lot more than you might think.

In 2017, the cost for a 30 second spot during the Super Bowl was $5 million. If you think that's bad, imagine spending $9 million for a 60 second spot. Nine. Million. Dollars. Absurd right? While you might think it's a bit bananas to spend that much money on a spot just to make a funny joke or make a political statement, for some companies it's worth it.

84 Lumber released a rather controversial ad this year, depicting a single mother and her daughter attempting to come into the United States all to be met at the end of their journey blocked by a large, recently built wall.

The lumber conglomerate was forced to edit their ad just a little bit to not show the wall, seeing as it was a strong political statement seemingly against the newly elected President, Donald Trump. However, in a statement the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday, the CEO of 84 Lumber, a woman, released the fact that she did vote for Trump and currently still supports him.

Politics and controversy aside, it was very important for 84 Lumber to release an ad because they are a relatively small company. No one may know where they came up with $9 million to pay for a 60 second advertising spot, but they did. It was probably the most controversial and most talked about ads of the 2017 football game.

Nonetheless, some professionals think that advertising during the Super Bowl isn't worth their time or money. According to SmallBusiness.chron.com, average production cost of a national television ad is about 342,000 dollars. That's before you even submit the ad to the television network, which for the Super Bowl is FOX, and pay them either $5 or $9 million dollars.

Many companies that are notorious for advertising during the Super Bowl, like Budweiser or Doritos,  don't actually see much gain in sales after advertising. They are pretty much in the lucrative game for the publicity and to get people talking. After all, word of mouth advertising is the strongest and most persuasive way to get people to buy or use your products or services.

What do you think? Is it worth it as a large or small company to spend over a quarter of a million dollars to produce a high-quality commercial, then buy a spot during the Super Bowl each year for between $5 and $9 million? Let me know in the comments below!