Sunday night, February 5, 2006, at 6:00 pm ET, ABC will televise a special show on the year’s best commercials. Based on previous year’s example this year’s special should showcase several great TV commercials and advertisements.
More than 40 million people are expected to watch this year’s special and digest as many as 60 commercials during the +/- 4 hour broadcast. These commercials have transcended their marketing function and are now viewed as a cultural reflection of America at a particular moment in time.
In order to be showcased during this TV special, advertisers have to pay between $2 million and $2.2 million for each 30-second advertisement.
The primary focus of these advertisements is usually entertainment. After the fact, discussion and analysis revolve around how amusing or interesting the commercials were. Little or no mention, however, is made of how effective they were in advertising the product.
One of the better ones in recent history was the 1998 Tabasco commercial. The commercial shows a man sitting, eating pizza on his front porch. Before each bite he splashes on a liberal dose of Tabasco. A mosquito flies in, bites the guy on the hand, and flies off. A second later, we see the mosquito explode in a mass of flames. Cut to the guy chewing and smiling, Tabasco bottle clearly displayed on screen. Good stuff.
One note though: During this TV special ABC tells me that they will also be interspersing a live-televised football game between the commercials. But don’t fret - this will simply give you an opportunity to go to the bathroom or grab another beer before the next commercial comes back on.
