Pepsi ends Super Bowl Advertising after 23 straight years

A.P., 12-17-09

MILWAUKEE -- Pepsi's Super Bowl streak is over after a 23-year run.

Ads for the drinks won't appear in next year's Super Bowl on CBS. Instead, the company plans to shift ad dollars to a new marketing effort that's mostly online. Pepsi was one of the biggest advertisers in last year's game and has advertised every year since 1987. Frito-Lay, a unit of parent company PepsiCo Inc., will still have Super Bowl commercials this year.

The company, which is based in Purchase, N.Y., spent $33 million advertising products like Pepsi, Gatorade, and Cheetos last year during the Super Bowl, according to TNS Media Intelligence, $15 million of it on Pepsi alone. Ad time last year for the NFL championship game cost about $3 million for 30 seconds, on average.

Those prices may have dipped to as low as $2.5 million per 30 seconds this year, according to Jon Swallen, senior vice president of research for TNS Media Intelligence. Final figures won't be known until after the game, which takes place Feb. 7 and airs on CBS. The network said last week it has sold about 90 percent of the game's commercial time.

LINK: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4751415

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The Times They Are A-Changin'

The latest one I can remember is "Forever Young". That had will.i.am rapping with Bob Dylan and showing vintage and modern footage of American sports.