Pepsi and Coca-Cola have decided to break the tradition and not broadcast TV commercials during the Super Bowl next month, amid the economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Variety reported for the first time Pepsi’s decision last week with Coca-Cola follows on Friday, with an announcement that he will not air ads on CBS’s Super Bowl LV show.
In a statement shared with The Hill, Coca-Cola said it had made the “difficult choice” of “to make sure we invest in the right resources in these unprecedented times. ”
“We will fry for our colleagues brands with an ice-cold Cola on the edge,” the company said.
Meanwhile, Pepsi, one of the biggest and most trusted sponsors of the football event, has chosen not to air ads during the game to “double the 12 minutes of Pepsi’s Super Bowl break in the middle of Super Bowl ”, according to a statement shared with Variety by Pepsi Vice President of Marketing Todd Kaplan.
“We will build it the way we have never built it before,” Kaplan said of the show at the break, adding that the decision to cut ads was not influenced by a desire to limit spending.
Pepsi did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for further comment.
Canadian singer The Weeknd is set to headline the Pepsi-sponsored show, the music star participating in a Pepsi advertising campaign before the February 7 game, the first time a Super Bowl linebacker has done so, according to Variety.
Coca-Cola in 2020 spent about $ 10 million on commercials on Fox’s Super Bowl LIV, according to advertising spending tracker Kantar.
The Coca-Cola decision comes after the Atlanta company announced in December that would reduce nearly 2,200 jobs worldwide, with 1,200 in the US due to declining sales amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Coca-Cola has been preparing for discounts since the summer, when it offered purchases to nearly 4,000 employees in Canada and the United States. Earlier this year, the brand also announced it would give up Tab, Odwalla and Zico, CNN reported. weather.
Variety reported Friday that CBS has not yet announced a sale of its commercial game inventory, with the network seeking about $ 5.5 million in advertising packages.
Last year’s football game generated about $ 435 million in advertising spending, a new record, according to Kantar.