The Super Bowl and Super "Duper" Tuesday

[Keystone Phil]

I was reading up on the upcoming Super Bowl (Super Bowl XLII) and noticed an interesting political connection, thanks to comments from Senator McCain:

http://www.answers.com/topic/super-bowl-xlii

Commercials

The scheduled date for Super Bowl XLII is Sunday, February 3; this is two days before Super Tuesday, the date in which many states are holding their presidential primaries. As such, some presidential hopefuls are considering purchasing Super Bowl ads. Says Republican presidential candidate John McCain, the football audience is "a very ripe and timely target."[8]


It's a very interesting idea but will anyone actually go for it? I'm not so sure that the audience would be pleased since they'll be bombarded with this stuff weeks in advance anyway. So will anyone actually take the risk and is it a good idea to mix the biggest day in American sports with the biggest political battle of the primary process?

[© tweed]

it costs like 2 million dollars for a 30 second slot so I doubt anyone is going to do it.

[Keystone Phil]

it costs like 2 million dollars for a 30 second slot so I doubt anyone is going to do it.

True, but think about those who may know they'll be on the way out of the race after that Tuesday. If they have the money, they might want to go out with a laugh and have people talking.   I guess you can't rule out someone like McCain using this as a "Hail Mary" (sorry for the football pun, folks) to save their campaign in the final days.

[Boris]

it costs like 2 million dollars for a 30 second slot so I doubt anyone is going to do it.

it'd be an excellent way for Bloomberg to kick off a potential candidacy

[Eraserhead]

it costs like 2 million dollars for a 30 second slot so I doubt anyone is going to do it.

it'd be an excellent way for Bloomberg to kick off a potential candidacy

I can see it now.

"Hi I'm a little Jewish guy. Vote for me because smoking is teh bad."

[King]

It shouldn't just be a political ad if it's going on the SuperBowl ad.  People will still tune it out.  It has to be an amazing 60 seconds that make people want to vote for Bloomberg even though the ad displays very little substance politically.  And it can't just be Bloomberg with a couple of monkeys with name tags that say Democrat and Republican although that'd be pretty sick now that I think about it.

[Beet]

Hmm the Super Bowl is late this year. I wonder whether it'll screw with people's minds... or maybe thinking about it too hard is screwing with mine.

[King]

Hmm the Super Bowl is late this year. I wonder whether it'll screw with people's minds... or maybe thinking about it too hard is screwing with mine.

This one is actually a day earlier than last year.

[Stranger in a strange land]

it costs like 2 million dollars for a 30 second slot so I doubt anyone is going to do it.

True, but think about those who may know they'll be on the way out of the race after that Tuesday. If they have the money, they might want to go out with a laugh and have people talking.   I guess you can't rule out someone like McCain using this as a "Hail Mary" (sorry for the football pun, folks) to save their campaign in the final days.

I could see mccain doing that...problem is where will he get the money?

[AkSaber]

I don't think any of the candidates could afford to do this.

[Eraserhead]

I don't think any of the candidates could afford to do this.

Obama or Clinton could.

[AkSaber]

I don't think any of the candidates could afford to do this.

Obama or Clinton could.

Hmm. Yes. But I was thinking of something like an ad blitz during the Super Bowl.

[Tender Branson]

I could see mccain doing that...problem is where will he get the money?

The next SuperBowl is in Glendale, Arizona, right ? So, McCain doesn´t even need to run a spot, he just has to show up in the Cardinals Stadium. Maybe he could flip the coin ?

As for the broader question, I think there are just 4 candidates who are able to purchase a 2 Mio. $ spot for the Bowl. Clinton, Obama, Romney and Giuliani. And even that is in question, as all 4 campaigns are probably out of money 2 days before Supertuesday because of huge spending in CA and elsewhere.

[Brandon H]

Feb. 5 is also Fat Tuesday aka Mardi Gras (and the SuperBowl, again, is on the same day as Bacchus). We know which day Louisiana won't have it's primary.

[StateBoiler]

If any of the campaigns have the nerve to do it, they better make one heck of a commercial, to outshine all the other commercials that night.

[Tender Branson]

BUMP

Any news if a candidate will buy a Super Bowl ad ?

[MODU]

That would be a very expensive ad.  I'm trying to think back if I remember any candidate doing that in the past, but I'm not coming up with anything.

[Erc]

Paul has some ridiculous sum of money he's not using anywhere else...I wouldn't rule it out.  Knowing Paul's history, it'd be a horrible ad, though.

[Reluctant Republican]

Paul has some ridiculous sum of money he's not using anywhere else...I wouldn't rule it out.  Knowing Paul's history, it'd be a horrible ad, though.

Their's alot of grass roots talk that he is going to do this, but the campaign has not confirmed anything yet. Given the way the campaign has gone so far though, the best thing he could do is run an ad explaning why he feels the Republican party has "strayed" or whatever and annonce he is now running as a Libertarian. If he did that he’d generate a ton of buzz, but I highly doubt the camapign is that creative.

[Хahar 🤔]

Giuliani could to try to save his candidacy,

[Lief 🗽]

How much does a Super Bowl ad cost?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

How much does a Super Bowl ad cost?

Several million arms and legs.

[Bacon King]

Yeah, I could see Paul doing it.

[Tender Branson]

On the Democratic side, I think Obama would have most to gain from such a Super Bowl spot.

Says the Washington Post:

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But it has to be a powerful ad and Edwards needs to get 5% in SC, drop out and endorse Obama, so he can make inroads into NY, MA, NJ and CA.

On the Republican side, I think that with the exceptions of Huckabee and Thompson (who is likely to drop out anyway) Mitt Romney is the most likely to risk buying a Super Bowl ad. Also, Giuliani could make a last second push after losing (?) FL. And Paul ? Who cares ?!

[Jacobtm]

it costs like 2 million dollars for a 30 second slot so I doubt anyone is going to do it.

Ron Paul?