After a brief stint on the sidelines, M&M is making is its return to the Super Bowl’s advertising face-off, which is nearly as competitive as the game itself.
The new 30-second ad spot will air during the first commercial break following Super Bowl LV kickoff on Sunday, February 7th, 2021 in Tampa, Florida — and will feature the iconic “spokescandies” to convey humor and fun after a tough year. In a separate but related move, Pringles is also coming back to the big game with an ad spot of its own.
Although SNICKERS — another Mars brand — had a prominent spot during the 2020 game, the company said that M&M is the only Mars candy that will have a spot in this year’s contest. Last year’s buzzy ad featured a candy bar trying to “fix the world” by “feeding” the Earth a giant SNICKERS bar.
M&M’s reappearance comes at a time when the NFL’s ability to sell high-priced ads at its marquee event is in doubt. The COVID-19 pandemic has sent league officials scrambling to adjust its schedule amid team outbreaks, and has kept attendees out of stadiums nationwide. Meanwhile, amid the turmoil, ratings have swooned from a year ago.
Earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal reported Viacom CBS (VIAC) is seeking around $5.5 million dollars for a 30-second commercial spot, which were in line with the 2020 game. However, that’s not all there is to the story.
Allen Adamson, Metaforce Co-founder and NYU Stern Adjunct, calls M&M’s first quarter spot “a better bet” to catch viewers’ attention, but it will come at a high cost for the candy company.
“There’s the immediate [cost] which you have to pay the network to air it, but the cost people don’t talk about is the production cost,” Adamson said. That could “vary anywhere from half a million to two and a half million dollars for the average ad.”
He also noted that most big marketers like Viacom CBS buy several spots, and “if you’re buying a package, you can negotiate.”
A hefty price tag
Mars is working with ad agency BBDO New York to produce the Super Bowl ad spot. While the two companies worked together last year to bring viewers the SNICKERS commercial, there will be additional costs this year due to COVID and the safety protocols associated with it, Adamson estimated.
“Add another million or million and a half,” he told Yahoo Finance, given that COVID-19 era production generally costs more. The final price tag could easily top $7 million just for one spot, he added.
So is it worth the money? Adamson believes it does.
“It seems like a lot of money, but when you compare this to how many people are watching on a cost, as we say per eyeball or per person, it’s just one of the few places you can talk to that many people at one time.”
Additionally, he speculated that many other companies take a more emotional approach with their ads, as a way to “use the current situation as a way to emotionally connect” with viewers — who want an “escape” from the ravages of a grim year.
Adamson also notes this year advertisers will have a “bigger stage to play on” due fewer distractions for viewers as parties are expected to remain smaller due to rising coronavirus cases in the United States.
Despite viewer fears, he estimated that viewers will tune in en masse, “because people are stuck to the couch” as we’ve seen with lots of attention around streaming giants like Netflix (NLFX), Hulu, Disney+ (DIS) and Apple TV+ (AAPL) in 2020.
Brooke DiPalma is a producer and reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @BrookeDiPalma.
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