GMC Gets First In-Game Super Bowl Ad
January 30, 2008

By Dale Buss

GMC will air its first in-game Super Bowl ad Sunday when the General Motors division shows off its new Yukon hybrid in a 60-second commercial during the second quarter of Fox’s broadcast of the game.

GMC Marketing Director Steve Rosenblum told AutoObserver the division has “had plenty of ads during the pregame shows” on previous Super Bowl Sundays “but we haven’t had one in-game as far as I can remember.”

GM’s announcement that GMC would occupy its single in-game slot Super Bowl Sunday ended an internal derby of sorts for what brand or products would land the spot.

As of a few weeks ago, the spot was reserved for Chevrolet. But more recently GM reconsidered, settling instead on using the 60 seconds –- at a presumed price tag of more than $5 million –- to promote one of its new hybrid vehicles: Yukon or the Chevrolet Malibu or Saturn Vue.

Last year GM aired three ads during the Super Bowl, two for Chevrolet and one corporate spot.

Rosenblum said GMC prevailed with the in-game spot in part “because we have a big story to tell.” Ryndee Carney, a GM marketing spokeswoman, said “featuring GMC during the in-game spot we bought seemed like an ‘equitable’ thing to do,” given that Chevrolet will be “participating heavily” in pregame TV advertising, and Cadillac’s marketing sponsorship of the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award means Caddy will be a heavy postgame advertiser.

Actual availability to consumers of each of the three new hybrids was an issue as well, Carney said. Rosenblum said the Yukon hybrid is just now shipping to dealerships.

The GMC ad will feature animation from a short film that was nominated for an Academy Award in the '70s, Rosenblum said, without identifying the flick. “It exemplifies our never-comprise attitude” and also connects directly to the attributes of the Yukon hybrid, he said about the ad content.

And if indeed the status of the Writers’ Guild of America contract negotiations permits an Academy Award TV broadcast in February, Rosenblum said, GMC will air the same spot during that event.

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