The Super Bowl of Advertising: How the Commercials Won the Game [Hardcover]

Bernice Kanner (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bloomberg | Publication Date: November 1, 2003

The Super Bowl is not just the crowning glory of football. It is the ultimate arena for advertising-- the most watched, most anticipated, most expensive, most influential venue for major-league television commercials. It is the place for advertisers to be seen and to showcase their best work to some 800 million viewers around the world and is of intense interest to advertising, marketing, and branding professionals. Many tune in just for the ads, which cost millions to produce and air. From the Bud Bowl and "Whassup?" to "Mean" Joe Greene and Michael Jordan, the commercials have tickled the nation's funny bone and tugged at its heartstrings. The commercial spectacle has grown in magnitude along with the same itself to become an integral part of the annual event. This book is a tour of that advertising evolution--nothing the triumphs and embarrassing flops, lassoing behind-the-scenes stories of ads that are significant--because they broke new ground, inaugurated a major campaign, defined a new movement, set a milestone, or reflected life t the time in a unique way. Illustrated throughout with color stills from the commercials, "The Super Bowl of Advertisingwill bring back memories and remind us of how, for many, the commercials are the best part of the game.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This breezy and entertaining book provides a look at how advertising on America's most watched television program-the Super Bowl-has changed over the past 36 years. Kanner, former "On Madison Avenue" columnist for New York magazine, offers delightful tidbits about the commercials, the products and the executives responsible for choosing the ads. Who would believe that there were some 30,000 unsold seats at the first Super Bowl, in 1967, and 60-second spots sold for less than $100,000? Today, with more than 750 million viewers around the world, advertisers pay more than $2 million for 30-second spots. Presenting anecdotes about the ads along with illustrations, Kanner takes readers through time as she discusses such classic lines as "Schaefer is the one beer to have when you're having more than one" and "take it all off" in reference to Noxzema shaving cream. In an amusing piece, "Fossil Fuel," Kanner recounts a popular animated commercial that occurs inside a natural history museum at night: "The bones of a giant tyrannosaurus stir to life, awakened by the intoxicating smell of McDonald's fries. The T-rex sets off to find them. When a dozing guard realizes that Dino wants his dinner, he playfully makes it do tricks, doling out fries as training bait." Particularly insightful is "the dot-com bowl" chapter about the 2000 game. Several Internet companies spent millions of their IPO money on their ads-in vain, as the corporations were out of business by the end of the year. General business readers as well as industry insiders will appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at their world.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Advertising has become America's favorite spectator sport, and it couldn't ask for a better play-by-play announcer than Bernice Kanner. -- Randall Rothenberg, author of Where the Suckers Moon: The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign

This is one enjoyable read—and a must-have for my reference shelf. -- Marian Salzman, co-author of Buzz: Harness the Power of Influence and Create Demand

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Bloomberg Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576601315
• ISBN-13: 978-1576601310
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #790,254 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Bowl, super book!, January 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Super Bowl of Advertising: How the Commercials Won the Game (Hardcover)

If you watch the game each year just for the commercials, then this book will really bring back some memories. The author does an excellent job of recapping all the great ads, from the early years to the landmark Apple "1984" ad that changed everything, and the ensuing two decades of big budgets, big stars, and, oftentimes, big flops. Remember all those dot-com ads from a few years back? When you read the book, try to count the number of companies that are still around! Overall, this book scores a game-winning touchdown. A must for fans of pop culture and advertising.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Television Advertising Book ever Published!, November 5, 2003

By 

Steven Dworman "Author" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Super Bowl of Advertising: How the Commercials Won the Game (Hardcover)

As a former Adweek Magazine suppliment publisher, I can say without a doubt that if you have any interest in television advertising, commercials, and their results-or even just heading down a nostalgia path, this book is the greatest book ever published on it's subject.

Inside it's pages are filled with full color photographs of the most important television spots in the past 20 years.

But even more important, Ms. Kanner's insightful writing gives us the inside stories of how these spots were created and what happened when they were aired. The background and inside information she's uncovered is invaluable for anyone interested in this field.

If you want to own one book on television advertising, this is the new bible!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, interesting, and FUN, November 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Super Bowl of Advertising: How the Commercials Won the Game (Hardcover)

This book is a gas. I learned more about advertising - and more interesting info on our culture - from reading this than any of the books or magazines I've read on ads. Kanner is a great guide to the ins and outs of the best (and worst) of the biggest event every year in advertising.