NFL Challenges Fans to Dream Up Super Bowl Ad
In the vein of American Idol auditions, the National Football League (NFL) is giving fans the opportunity to pitch their idea for a NFL Super Bowl commercial via screening events, with the possibility of having the winning concept developed into a commercial to air during next year’s game.
In recent months, brands such as Chevy (PROMO Xtra, Sept. 13, 2006) and Doritos (PROMO Xtra, Sept. 15, 2006) have also launched promotions that ask consumers to develop Super Bowl ads.
Under the NFL promo, registration for the “Pitch us your idea for the best NFL Super Bowl commercial ever. Seriously” contest is available at NFL.com/SuperAd. Then in three NFL markets, contestants will have 90 seconds to describe their idea and entertain questions from judges.
The contest winner will score the chance to have their pitch produced into a commercial that will run during Super Bowl XLI, which airs on CBS on Feb. 4. The grand prize includes a visit to the production set to view the filming of the commercial, round trip airfare to South Florida for the game for the winner and a guest, and two tickets to the Super Bowl game as special guests of the NFL.
The pitch events will be held at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ (Nov. 17-18), Texas Stadium in Irving, TX (Dec. 1-2) and Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver, CO (Dec. 8-9). Four finalists will be chosen from each of the three venues. The online entry period ends Nov. 14 for the New Jersey event, Nov. 28 for Texas, and Dec. 5 for Denver.
Joe Pytka, filmmaker and TV commercial director, will serve on the final judging panel and his critiques will be posted on the Web site for fans to follow. In addition, interviews and commentary of NFL stars and personalities along with clips of New York Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma and Roy Williams of the Detroit Lions—each of whom will pitch their own ideas—will be available online. Past NFL Super Bowl commercials can also be viewed. And once the pitch events begin, the Web site will feature a video montage of highlights from auditions.
By Dec. 15, taped pitches of the 12 finalists will be posted on NFL.com/SuperAd for fans to cast votes. Voting ends Jan. 7, 2007. The winner will be announced the following day. Meanwhile, a promotion on the Web site will run in tandem with the contest where voters can win prizes that include a trip to the Super Bowl game.
Print ads, radio spots and banner ads on Google, Yahoo and Facebook support.
GMR Marketing, New Berlin, WI, handles the campaign. The NFL handles the micro-site in-house.
