FedEx Opts Out of Super Bowl Advertising
FedEx will not run a Super Bowl ad for the first time in 12 years, according to a posting on the company Web site Monday.
Director of advertising Steve Pacheco cited difficult economic times as the reason the company will not buy a spot.
"As a country, we are in unprecedented economic waters. And as a responsible employer of more than 290,000 employees and contractors worldwide, there is a time to justify such an ad spend and a time to step back," Pacheco wrote in the Monday blog post.
FedEx has advertised in 18 Super Bowls since 1989.
Last week, FedEx reported a higher profit for its fiscal second quarter, meeting expectations, but announced a 20 percent pay cut for CEO Fred Smith and said it was suspending retirement plan contributions as the U.S. economy's outlook looks bleak.
FedEx said it has a hiring freeze in place and has cut staff levels at its FedEx Freight and FedEx Office units.
According to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in July, Smith's base salary for the company's fiscal 2009 year was set at around $1.48 million.
The company also announced the suspension of matching contributions to FedEx's 401(k) retirement plan for a minimum of one year as of February 1.
FedEx said the cost-cutting measures would reduce expenses by $800 million by the end of its fiscal 2010 year.