| Viagra
to sex up Super Bowl on Sunday
January 30, 2004
Monday morning may see Americans not discussing
Sunday's Super Bowl match between the New England
Patriots and the Carolina Panthers, but rather
the sex ads on TV .
And fighting out for the attention of the rugby
crazy American public will be Viagra
, Levitra and Cialis,
the anti-impotence drugs. ( Do you think the
Super Bowl is an ad bowl? )
Actually people watch the ads more closely
during the Super Bowl than during almost any
other kind of programming and at roughly $2.3
million a pop for a 30-second ad on CBS the
official channel for the Super Bowl matches,
drug makers are expecting a lot of bang for
their buck.
USA Today Ad Meter, a viewer reaction poll
in its 16th year, will offer a ranking of which
ads clicked most with people. The fact is the
Super Bowl ads are as important a part of the
whole showbiz as the games themselves.
Let's face it, the super bowls are also the
ad bowls.
And while companies try to latch on to the
Super Bowl ad league (much like what cricket
gets in India), the TV channel (in this case
CBS) also takes it pick, to get the best ads
that will keep the audience glued to the channel
during the breaks.
So here we have, the three sex drugs, which
are most likely to catch the eyeballs during
the Super Bowl, going all out to woo the viewers.
A few years ago, former US Senator Bob Dole
had broken through with a series of plugs for
Viagra, the Pfizer drug that was the first to
receive FDA approval in the United States six
years ago and controls roughly 80 percent of
the market.
Dole had even spoofed his own ad the following
year, while doing a spot for Pepsi that featured
pop star Britney Spears gyrating like a lap
dancer at a strip club. At the end of the ad,
the camera cut to Dole, sitting in front of
the television with a golden retriever.
"Down, boy," he says.
Actually Viagra has stiff competition this
time.
Viagra clone Levitra, which claims a faster-
acting time and does not need to be taken on
an empty stomach, will air two spots - a 45-second
ad followed by a 15-second ad in the first half
of the game.
As an NFL sponsor this year, Levitra had established
a name among football fans.
Before each home game at the Linc, players
entered the stadium through a giant, inflatable
tunnel tattooed with the Levitra logo, spurting
out onto the field like so many green-helmeted
sperm. After the player introductions, the tunnel
swiftly deflated and was dragged off the field.
By contrast, Eli Lilly-Icos, makers of Cialis,
plan to take a much more sober approach to introduce
their product, which just received US approval
in November and claims effectiveness for up
to 36 hours.
The company will air one, informational 60-second
ad in the second half voiced over couples snuggling
in the kitchen, at an espresso bar and watching
a sunset at the beach.
CBS does follow a sort of a code of conduct
for accepting ads. Ads that advocate beer drinking?
Absolutely on. Ads that advocate changing presidents?
No way! So liberal group MoveOn.org, found no
takers for its ads on CBS.
PETA, the animal-rights group, which usually
comes up with sexy-looking females wearing lettuce
leaves had come up with a hit spot. Two sexy
women (as usual) has amorous intentions for
a pizza-delivery man. But the pizza guy has
eaten so much meat he can't perform. But CBS
turned it down. as the network did not sell
time for the advocacy of viewpoints on controversial
issues.
The biggest spending Super Bowl advertiser
this year is you guessed it right, a beer company,
Budweiser. Philip Morris USA and the American
Legacy Foundation use their spots to advocate
against teen smoking!!!
Pepsi has teamed up with Apple on an ad featuring
16 real-life teenagers sued for illegally downloading
music. Nice touch! In fact, a 1984 ad for Apple
Computer, shown just once during the Super Bowl,
remains the becnhmark for Super Bowl advertising.
As serious ads find no place in the Super Bowl
show, even Philip Morris USA and the American
Legacy Foundation use their spots to advocate
against teen smoking!!
A few years ago, the then flavour of the month
dot-com companies gambled their annual advertising
budgets for a piece of the Super Bowl. But most
of these companies have long gone bust.
The New England Patriots may or may not dispose
of Carolina's Panthers by a touchdown or so
at the Super Bowls on Sunday, but if the game
turns out to be as boring as most Super Bowls,
the people could well cough up $19.95 for the
soft-porn Lingerie Bowl, which features sexy
models playing full contact football in lacy
bras and panties.
Which one would you rather go for?
source:-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
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