Census Bureau to run 2.5 Mio. $ Superbowl ad

[Tender Branson]

Census Bureau counts on Super Bowl ad

By Aaron Smith, CNNMoney.com staff writerJanuary 26, 2010: 2:39 PM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Census Bureau is advertising in the Super Bowl, trying to convince as many people as possible to participate in its once-a-decade nationwide head count.

The bureau is spending $2.5 million on its 30-second spot, which will urge Americans to answer its questionnaires that will be sent out in the next few weeks, according to bureau spokeswoman Kendall Johnson.

The ad's cost is a tiny portion of the bureau's $133 million advertising budget -- which itself is part of a total $340 million budget for a communications campaign that includes public relations, a road tour, recruitment, Web site development and other costs, the bureau said.

Most of the Census Bureau's campaign will be focused on "local, ethnic media," conducted in 28 languages, according to the bureau.

The bureau seeks to convince people of the need to participate in an accurate population tally for 2010. If it can get people to fill out the questionnaires, then it can avoid sending out staffers on house visits. The bureau estimates that it saves $80 million to $90 million for every one percentage point of the population that mails back the completed forms.

The bureau recognizes the effectiveness of the Super Bowl's reach after advertising in the game for the first time in 2000, said Johnson.

Last year was a record high for viewer volume, according to The Nielsen Company, with 98.7 million people tuning in to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals.

This year's game, featuring the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints, will be played Feb. 7 at Sun Life Stadium near Miami.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/26/news/companies/super_bowl_census/

[Tender Branson]

Enter the Republican assholes and complain about a few million $ in outreach campaigning, but don`t say a few words about the senseless war billions that are wasted in the black holes of Iraq and Afghanistan.

So, come on you GOP hypocrites, be good Christians and support the Census: Even Jesus' parents did so !

[Lunar]

If you're going to complain about anything, complain about their $133m advertising budget, not one expensive ad that is only expensive because so many people see it

[SPC]

Enter the Republican assholes and complain about a few million $ in outreach campaigning, but don`t say a few words about the senseless war billions that are wasted in the black holes of Iraq and Afghanistan.

So, come on you GOP hypocrites, be good Christians and support the Census: Even Jesus' parents did so !

So they are bad because they are not consistently evil?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Enter the Republican assholes and complain about a few million $ in outreach campaigning, but don`t say a few words about the senseless war billions that are wasted in the black holes of Iraq and Afghanistan.

So, come on you GOP hypocrites, be good Christians and support the Census: Even Jesus' parents did so !

But we could have paid for another 15 minutes of the Iraq war with that money.

[cinyc]

If you're going to complain about anything, complain about their $133m advertising budget, not one expensive ad that is only expensive because so many people see it

I'll be complaining if the ad sucks.  Ads that suck shouldn't be on during the Superbowl.

[cinyc]

Huh?  Bad ad.  What he heck was that?  Waste of $2.5 million.

[The Only Halfway-Sane Moderator Left]

That ad made no sense.  IMHO.

[cinyc]

That ad made no sense.  IMHO.

Pretty much my thoughts.  Plus, I think I might have seen it before today, which they shouldn't be doing for a Superbowl ad.

[Snowguy716]

If Republicans don't want to fill out the census form.. I'm not stopping them.  I'm sure we can find a few Mexicans in a Democratic area to take your place

*KIDDING*!!!!! (I believe every American citizen should be counted in the census... no matter our politics, everybody deserves to be represented equally)

[Tender Branson]

Whoah that ad really sucked (not that I question the expenditure, but the content).

What has this to do with filling out the forms and mail them back ? What has this to do with the fiscal importance of the Census ? They could have really produced something better to convince the 150 Mio. or so Americans who watched the game.

[live free or die]

This was a ridiculous waste of my money.

[Joe Republic]

This was a ridiculous waste of my money.

That'll teach you for donating $2.5m to the Census Bureau, won't it?

[Tender Branson]

If you're going to complain about anything, complain about their $133m advertising budget, not one expensive ad that is only expensive because so many people see it

Even the 133 Mio. $ isn`t discussion-worthy, because even though the Bureau spends 133 Mio. on their awareness campaign, every additional percentage point increase in mailed back forms saves the US taxpayer 85 Mio. $. It basically means that if more people mail back their forms, the Census Bureau does not have to dispatch their expensive staff to check why people have not returned their forms.

Read about it here:

http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/2010-census-ad-campaign-positioned-to-save-taxpayers-millions-helping-boost-mail-back-participation.html