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Hyundai, Anheuser-Busch reveal Super Bowl advertising plans, buying 4.5 minutes of airtime between them

Lucy Handley, special to CNBC
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With the Super Bowl LI just over two weeks away, brands are starting to reveal their advertising plans for the American football event, one of the biggest sports marketing occasions of the year.

Brewer Anheuser-Busch has announced that it has bought "at least" three minutes of airtime at this year's game, with commercials for Bud Light, Budweiser, Michelob ULTRA and Busch.

Value brand Busch will advertise at the event for the first time, in a 30-second spot by Deutsch, which aims to reach younger drinkers, the company said in a statement online.


"Busch will introduce itself to a new generation of beer drinkers, drawing on decades of equity as a brand that stays true to its name," the company said. Busch was launched in 1955, the first new brand Anheuser-Busch introduced after the end of Prohibition in the U.S.

Meanwhile, a 60-second ad for Bud Light, the NFL's official beer, will feature new tagline "Famous Among Friends," a line it worked on with agency Wieden + Kennedy New York.

A-B's vice president of marketing Marcel Marcondes said that the buzz around advertising matched the excitement around the event itself.

"The Super Bowl has become one of those increasingly rare cultural moments in time when consumers anticipate and talk about the commercials as much as the event itself.

"For Super Bowl 51, we are not just creating ads for the game, but kicking off strategic creative campaigns for the year. For that reason, we're debuting new work that we believe will resonate before, during and long after game day."

Super Bowl broadcaster Fox is reportedly asking for more than $5 million per 30-second ad slot at the event, which means A-B has potentially spent $30 million on advertising. When asked about its media spend for the Super Bowl, an Anheuser Busch spokesperson said in an emailed statement: "A-B never confirms our marketing or media budgets. That outlet (Variety) sourced their figures from the network (Fox) or Kantar media and we can't confirm those figures."


Meanwhile, auto-maker Hyundai has hired movie director Peter Berg to shoot and produce a 90-second "documentary" live at the Super Bowl. Berg - who directed 2016's "Deepwater Horizon" – will "capture some of the best off-the-field Super Bowl moments," and the spot will be broadcast after the game and before the trophy ceremony, according to an emailed statement.

Hyundai Motor America's chief marketing officer Dean Evans said: "Super Bowl is the biggest day in advertising and following an incredibly successful 2016, we wanted to push the creativity and storytelling even further.

"Our brand commitment is to make things 'better' and we are going to give some deserving fans an experience they will never forget."

Hyundai has advertised at nine of the past ten Super Bowl events, and is a sponsor of the NFL.

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