As I’ve perused the news lately its no surprise to find several articles on the Super Bowl airing this Sunday. However, the story that has been the most prevalent is about a large company which has decided not to advertise through commercials during what is possibly the biggest commercial event of the year. I’m fascinated by Pepsi’s decision to opt out of the tradition despite its competitor, Coke’s, plans for a big Super Bowl appearance. It’s interesting because Pepsi is probably getting the most attention in regards to the Super Bowl, and it’s not even participating. Instead of airing commercials Pepsi is launching a social media campaign. Pepsi’s reasoning for its decision is described in this excerpt from Yahoo! News:
“To Pepsi, and to companies around the world, the days when mass-market media is the sole vehicle to reach an audience are officially over. Instead of pouring millions of dollars into a Super Bowl commercial, Pepsi has started a social-media campaign to promote its "Pepsi Refresh" initiative. Pepsi plans to give away $20 million in grant money to fund projects in six categories: health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education.”
Clearly the initiative that is of most interest to our company is education. The article also states the prices for each commercial slot as costing between $2.5 to $3 million. It’s amazing how much money is spent to get 30 seconds of air time for a 3 hour event when that money could go to something of much more significance such as education and the other projects Pepsi is investing in. I commend Pepsi for focusing more on others than its own company- it turns out doing so has made Pepsi a huge focus in the media.