Super Bowl LVI will draw sports fans and music fans alike this Sunday, but Brock consumer culture expert Derek Foster has his own reasons for tuning in.<\/p>\n
The Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Popular Culture and Film says the Super Bowl is truly fascinating for anyone interested in media and advertising.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the ascendency of digital and social advertising and an increasingly fragmented media landscape, the Super Bowl is significant,\u201d he says. \u201cIt has held onto its advertising clout even in the face of increasing media competition and scandals rocking the reputation of the game, but it also shows how advertisers leverage digital media and grow transmedia audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foster says the world\u2019s fascination with Super Bowl commercials dropped into high gear after 1984, when Apple placed Apple Mac: 1984<\/em><\/a>, a short film directed by Ridley Scott.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was widely touted as changing the game \u2014 pun intended \u2014 and auguring an age of tuning in to the big game for not just the football or the halftime entertainment, but the commercial filler in between plays,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n By 2021, prestige ads filled 57 minutes of airtime during the game, and even with overall viewership of the traditional broadcast in decline, a 30-second ad slot in this Sunday\u2019s game will cost up to US$7 million.<\/p>\n Foster says to see the cultural impact of Super Bowl commercials, we need look no further than our own backyard, where legal disputes between the Canada Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and Bell Media over the rights of Canadians to experience American Super Bowl commercials during the broadcast made it to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n \u201cThe American broadcast on Canadian airwaves had long meant Canadian viewers missed out on a lot of the marquee advertisements, as the broadcast signal had traditionally been subject to the CRTC\u2019s mandated policy of simultaneous substitution, requiring Canadian broadcasters to distribute local signals and support the Canadian advertising market,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n But in 2015, the CRTC recognized the ads had become \u201can integral part\u201d of the Super Bowl and changed its rules.<\/p>\n \u201cFor three years, Canadian broadcasting aligned with Canadian popular taste,\u201d says Foster. \u201cBut Bell Media fought the ruling at the Supreme Court after seeing a decline in audience share and ad revenue for broadcasts on CTV and TSN, and they won.\u201d<\/p>\n Foster says the ruling has become \u201cincreasingly irrelevant\u201d as more audiences move away from traditional broadcasts of the event. Last year saw the lowest Super Bowl ratings in 14 years.<\/p>\n \u201cStrategies to reach audiences are no longer limited to television and sometimes they exclude it altogether, engaging with audiences via digital platforms and other interactive channels,\u201d he says. \u201cWhere people once upon a time tuned in to the game to check out the most expensive airtime of the year, today ads are frequently shared online early to build buzz \u2014 some even have teasers<\/a> \u2014 and the ads become part of an overall marketing strategy that focuses increasingly on digital footprints.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisers have taken note of studies showing that up to three-quarters of Super Bowl viewers use social media while watching, according to Foster. The NFL itself will air its own ads during the game to suggest that younger fans find them on Snapchat, and kids playing Fortnite can adopt skins for all 32 NFL teams.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we see some advertisers buying airtime but also creating digital campaigns, while others, such as State Farm, which only aired its first Super Bowl ad in 2021, announced this year it is bypassing the traditional on-air spot in favour of extending engagement beyond the one day by creating a #TeamStateFarm challenge on TikTok,\u201d says Foster.<\/p>\n More than anything else, Foster is looking forward to seeing if any of the ads this year take on a self-reflective quality.<\/p>\n