In recent years, between 70 and 100 commercials have aired during each Super Bowl game, adding up to around 40 minutes of commercials.
In 2012 (New York Giants 21 – New united kingdom cell number England Patriots 17), Super Bowl ads cost $3.5 million ($4.9 million today) for a 30-second spot. Chevrolet and OK Go’s musical Rube Goldsbergian machine took four months of prep and cost an estimated $500k – $1m to produce ($700k – $1.4m today).
Some brands snag decorated Hollywood directors for the shoots, and while numbers are hard to come by, it’s safe to assume that these directors raked in some cash:
- The Coen Brothers directed the 2017 (Patriots 34 – Atlanta Falcons 28) Mercedes ad, an
- At the 1984 Super Bowl (Las Vegas Raiders 38 – Washington, D.C. 9), a Ridley Scott-helmed Orwellian ad introduced Apple’s first-ever Macintosh computer.
- David Fincher directed a swaggering Brad Pitt in Heineken’s “Beer Run” from 2005 (Patriots 24 – Eagles 21)
If you’ve watched even one Super Bowl, you probably know the brands at play — usually the biggest names in tech, food, computer, and beer. Budweiser, Booking.com, Dunkin’, and Volkswagen were favorites of the 2024 Super Bowl.
Even though Google and Amazon share the title for most expensive Super Bowl ad ever, the King of Beers is the King of Super Bowl ad spend. Anheuser-Busch spent an estimated $470.5 million on its wildly popular Budweiser ads between 1967 and 2020.
In 1999 (Denver Broncos 34 – Falcons 19), a 30-second Super Bowl ad cost $1.6 million ($3.1 million today).
84 Lumber’s “The Journey Begins” spot cost $16.2 million in 2017 ($20.1 million today), making it among the most expensive Super Bowl ads in history.
How Much Can You Buy With the Cost of a Super Bowl Ad?
Have millions burning a hole in your united kingdom cell number pocket but missed the deadline for a Super Bowl LIX ad? Here’s what else you could spend $7 million on:
- A 24-acre private island in the Bahamas
- 16 fully tricked-out Rolls-Royce Ghosts or 241 mid-range Honda Civics
- 1.7 million gallons of non-organic 2% milk
- Feed 3,835 superb owls for one year*
- Between 17 and 28 chief marketing officers
- 140 entry-level marketers
- 70,000 seats on the Canva Teams plan
* It’s illegal to own an owl as a pet in the U.S. Number based on estimates from wildlife rescues and zoos that feed Great Horned Owls.
What doesn’t cost $7 million is software tongliao cell phone number list like Marketing Hub or our ad management software. You can build or manage your ad campaigns, whether you’re targeting football fans or superb owl enthusiasts.
The first Super Bowl was played in 1967 (Green Bay Packers 35 – Chiefs 10), and NBC and CBS charged brands $37,500 for each ad, or about $360k in today’s money.
A decade later, in 1977 (Oakland what is an audience profile? how to build one and my favorite examples Raiders 32 – Minnesota Vikings 14), brands were forking over $125k (about $675k today). In 1987 (Giants 39 – Broncos 20), 30 seconds cost $600k ($1.7m today); by 1997 (Packers 35 – Patriots 21) it was $1.2m ($2.38m today).
The Betty White Snickers ad from 2010 (New Orleans Saints 31 – Indianapolis Colts 17) is estimated to have cost $4 – $5 million ($5.8 – $7.3 million today).
Another decade, another (million) dollar(s). In 2007 (Colts 29 – Chicago Bears 17), ads averaged $2.39m ($3.72m today); in 2017, it was $5m ($6.5m today).
Is a Super Bowl ad worth the cost?
The short answer: Probably not. Unless you do marketing for a brand with a positively enormous marketing budget, a single $7-$8 million ad spot isn’t even on the table.
But for brands that do have that kind of spend, the ROI can be significant, with Super Bowl ads in the zeitgeist for several weeks before and after the big game. (I don’t watch the Super Bowl — but I definitely watch all the ads as soon as they’re online.)
And 123 million U.S. viewers watched Super Bowl LVIII — second only to the moon landing — and nearly a third of viewers say that the commercials are their favorite part of the game. Your $7m ad is getting a lot of eyeballs on it.
According to Kantar research in 2021, “Super Bowl ads delivered an average return on investment (ROI) of $4.60 per dollar spent, with many brands in the double digits.”