Every year, advertisers pull out all the stops for their Super Bowl ads. The nationally airing ads get the most attention because they are incredibly produced and unbelievably expensive. But they aren’t the only ads served to football fans across the country. Local broadcast advertising happens during the game, too. These ads don’t tend to be as flashy, start-studded, or expensive, but they can still reach huge audiences depending on the market.
Local Super Bowl Ad Airings
This year, on local CBS-affiliated stations around the country, there were 440 total advertisers, who aired 885 distinct creatives a total of 1,825 times. The five markets with the most local ad airings were Indianapolis, IN, Anchorage, AK, Philadelphia, PA, Tampa, FL, and Dallas, TX.
Ads, predictably, peaked during the middle of the game, with a total of 810 local airings in the eight o’clock hour, or middle of the game (please note that we standardized all time zones to Eastern Standard Time for easier analysis).
Among the national brands that aired the most local tv ads (that were not station or NFL promos), were Toyota, Ford, and DraftKings.
Toyota aired local ads 48 times in 44 markets. The most aired creative ran in southern markets in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and the Carolinas, advertising the 2021 RAV4.
Ford aired local ads 29 times in 22 markets. Ford’s most advertised model was the F-150, targeting consumers in states including Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.
Ford also aired an ad in Kansans City from its latest Covid-related ad blitz, an inspirational spot asking for viewers to “hold the line.”
Additionally, a spot for the Mustang Mach-E ran in Los Angeles. While this is certainly not the same level or scale as GM’s No Way Norway EV ad, Los Angeles is home to 18 million people. The decision to advertise the electric Mach-E in one of the nation’s largest DMAs was no accident.
DraftKings aired local ads 27 times in 23 markets. This was the most aired creative:
Read more here about the online gambling ad surge in the lead up to the Super Bowl.
Regional and local brands advertised, too. Midwest home improvement company Menards was the most active local advertiser, airing 37 ads in 33 markets. Menards actually took the number two spot for most local ad airings during the game.
While local broadcast advertising doesn’t attract the same kind of press that the big national ads do, they are a good option. A local or regional ad buy can still help advertisers reach millions of people, without the price tag of a national spot. These local buys also offer insight into what some of the big national brands are selling at a local level, as they focus less on narrative and more on product. We bet someone in Los Angeles is visiting a Ford dealership today about the Mach-E.
