GM Now Ditches Super Bowl

GM has now decided that even the Super Bowl is not good enough of an investment for it. After ditching Facebook less than two weeks ago, the automaker has now said that it will not be a sponsor for the 2013 Super Bowl.  GM paid around $13 million for its Super Bowl ads this year.

Joel Ewanick, GM’s global CMO said in a prepared statement to WSJ that the company understood the reach that the Super Bowl provided but with the significant increase in price of the ad spots, just could not justify the expense.  The company spends around $2 billion in advertising every year and since this announcement comes during Upfront Week, when networks are busy trying to sell ad spots to companies, this is been seen by some as a negotiating tactic.

The Super Bowl is getting increasingly expensive every year for advertisers who feel that since it is the most watched TV event of the year, it is the best way to reach a huge audience that is hard to replicate with sitcoms and other TV dramas. NBC, which broadcast this year’s Super Bowl, sold each of the ad spots for $3.5 million for 30 seconds. CBS, which will be broadcasting next year’s Super Bowl is expecting to sell the ad spots for $4 million.

GM may be pulling its advertising from Facebook and now Super Bowl, but the company has no plans to cut its advertising budget as of now. GM spent $1.78 billion on advertising through traditional media and online display in 2011, according to Kantar media.