Over the years, the Super Bowl has proven itself to be an important part of American culture.
It is the most watched sporting event of the year, and attracts viewers and fans from all walks of life.
Many consider it to be a holiday in of itself, and the preparation made by grocery stores and advertisers seem to echo this sentiment.
Another industry that gets in on the Super Bowl craze is the movie industry.
In 2011, movie studios paid $3 Million for each 30-second spot that was shown during the game.
This price seems unbelievable, considering that each preview is less than a quarter of the length of most movie trailers.
Can the movie studios justify this expense? I believe they can, and here is why.
1.
Mass Communication.
The Super Bowl is not only the most watched sporting event of the year, but it is the most watched television event of all time.
For the last two years, the this football game has broken the record for the most viewers for a television event with over 106 Million viewers in 2010, and then approximately 111 Million viewers in 2011.
The sheer volume of exposure alone almost justifies the high cost that the studios pay.
2.
Demographic.
The Super Bowl reaches out to a demographic wider than any other sporting event throughout the entire year.
In fact, for many in the United States, it is the only football game that they watch all year.
As a result, advertisers of all kinds can take a much broader approach to promotion during the Super Bowl than they could for, say, Monday Night Football.
The Super Bowl is viewership is not only large, but also very eclectic.
3.
Exposure.
Do the 30 second spots that the Hollywood studios show give us enough information to hook us in to a movie? Probably not.
But while the movie trailers may not generate enough buzz to make us rush to the theatre, the exposure that they bring is still well worth it.
Especially for a movie like Cowboys & Aliens, which we had all heard of before the Super Bowl, but may have slipped out of our attention, overshadowed with titles like Captain America and Transformers 3.
The Super Bowl spot may have given this movie just the "ping" it needed to stay on viewers' mental radar.