kind of suprised noone has posted about this yet.
this has been in the local news for 2 days now, and it kind of irk's me. yes i understand that FOX can sell whatever it wants to whoever it wants, but pulling the ad's a day before the game in pretty BS.
i highlighted a few things of interest, and the one that stands out is all 3 big networks pulling an ad recently also. what the he11 is that about?
Article text:
Miller commercials sidelined from national Super Bowl broadcast
By TOM DAYKIN
tdaykin@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Feb. 7, 2005
Miller Brewing Co.'s bitter ad battle with Anheuser-Busch Inc. spilled into one of the marketing world's biggest arenas - the Super Bowl - with Miller's TV commercials forced off the national broadcast by its larger rival.
Miller's three new commercials, which poke fun at Anheuser-Busch's new Budweiser Select, were scheduled to run Sunday during the Fox network's broadcast of the Super Bowl's pre-game show.
But Fox told Miller late Thursday that it would not run the ads - in deference to Anheuser-Busch, the Super Bowl's biggest spender when it comes to advertising.
That decision left Milwaukee-based Miller scrambling to buy broadcast time from Fox affiliates throughout the country, Miller spokesman Pete Marino said Monday. Those stations, such as Milwaukee's WITI-TV (Channel 6), are allowed to sell portions of local ad time during the Super Bowl.
Miller managed to place its ads in 34 local broadcast markets during the Super Bowl, Marino said. However, the ads didn't cover the 90 million viewers who watched the national broadcast. Miller says it reached about half of the available audience Sunday and paid about the same amount that it would have paid to reach a national audience through the pre-game broadcast, he said.
Fox's 11th-hour decision to drop the ads was especially galling to Miller because the commercials had already been approved by the network, Marino said.
Fox issued a statement acknowledging Anheuser-Busch's big presence during the Super Bowl. For several years, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, the nation's largest brewery, has paid for an exclusive position during broadcasts of the game itself. That leaves Miller and other brewers the option to buy national ad time only during the pre-game and post-game shows.
A statement issued by Jon Nesvig, Fox Broadcasting Co.'s president of ad sales, says Miller's commercials "portray Anheuser-Busch products, the largest single supporter of the day's programming, in a negative way."
"While we appreciate Miller's desire to advertise with us and would willingly accept other ads for Miller products, the decision was made to reject these specific ads based on the degree of spending Anheuser-Busch has achieved in support of Fox and the Super Bowl," Nesvig's statement says.
A Fox spokesman declined to comment further on Monday. And an Anheuser-Busch spokesman didn't return a call seeking comment.
The three commercials dropped by Fox are each 15 seconds and target Budweiser Select, a new light beer that Anheuser-Busch launches nationally this month. All three spots say Miller Lite has half the carbohydrates and more taste than Budweiser Light, Anheuser-Busch's biggest brand.
A poke at Bud's new beer
"Recently, Anheuser-Busch introduced a new light beer - Budweiser Select," says the voiceover from one spot. "We wondered why? Are they searching for a better light beer than Bud Light? If so, they could have called us."
In December, two of Miller's TV ads were pulled by CBS, NBC and ABC after Anheuser-Busch complained that the commercials made unsubstantiated claims about taste tests that pitted Budweiser and Bud Light against Miller Genuine Draft and Miller Lite.
Another spot was dropped because it was considered unduly disparaging of Anheuser-Busch's beers.
Miller's increased aggressiveness in targeting Anheuser-Busch has paid off. Miller Lite, Miller's largest brand, last year outpaced Bud Light for the first time in decades, according to newly released estimates from the trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights.
Volume U.S. sales of Miller Lite, Miller's largest brand, increased 10.5% in 2004, with its market share increasing from 7.5% in 2003 to 8.3% in 2004, the publication reported Monday.
Meanwhile, Bud Light's sales increased 3.7%. Its market share increased from 18.3% to 18.8%
