Does the Super Bowl offer enough bang for its hefty advertising buck?

A 30-second spot during Super Bowl LIX this weekend costs ~$7m, matching the all-time high of the last few years.

Based on ratings data, that means companies have been spending about 5-10 cents per viewer.

Is that worth it?

Studies have determined that Super Bowl ads are actually kind of worth the money:

• The 2023 ads led to an average 6.4% increase in consumer demand, according to a Veylinx study.
• That number was even higher for women, up 21%, but much lower for Gen Z.

But when competing brands both advertise, they cancel each other out. If there are ads for both Pepsi and Coca-Cola, neither one gets a boost.

The ads themselves…

… can be pricey to make. The top 10 priciest Super Bowl ads ran between $19m and $28m (adjusted for inflation).

• The list is mostly recognizable brands, plus a surprising appearance from 84 Lumber.
• The company spent $16m+ in 2017 (~$20m in 2024) on a long spot that’s barely about lumber.

But which Super Bowl was the most worth it?

Probably when the coveted ad spot was still under $1m and the novelty of the big game was still fresh.

Your best bet would be Super Bowl III in 1969, when 41.6m people watched the New York Jets beat the Baltimore Colts, and a 30-second ad averaged just $55k. That’s a fraction of a cent per viewer!

Or perhaps 1993’s Super Bowl XXVII, when viewership jumped to ~91m people and ad costs stayed stable, at ~$850k — but, more importantly, when O.J. Simpson did the coin toss and Michael Jackson did the halftime show.