Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February, 12, 2002

Advertising Super Bowl XV: A Testament to the Power of Franchising

San Diego, CA - The American Association of Franchisees & Dealers (AAFD) has released the tabulations for the fifteenth Advertising Super Bowl. For the 14th year since the survey was first conducted, franchised businesses purchased more advertising spots than non-franchised enterprises, this time by a commanding margin of 75 franchising related commercial spots to just 44 for enterprises not engaged in some form of franchising.

Although the primary purpose of the AAFD's survey is to illustrate the significant marketing muscle of companies that engage in franchising, an equally big story this year was the dominance of service industry franchises (business format franchises) and the continued evaporation of the dot-com advertising that made a major splash two years ago.

Reversing a three-year trend, the number of ads offered by business format franchises almost tripled to 23 from a meager 8 the year before. Subway, Quiznos, Taco Bell, Blockbuster, H&R Block, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and Jack-in-the-Box all weighed in, but the category was dominated by AT&T Cellular's new Mlife campaign that ran 5 commercial spots. By contrast, product franchises like Budweiser, Pepsi and General Motors ran 24% fewer spots, cutting from 40 in 2001 to 31.

Among non-franchisor advertisers, movie promotions dominated with 12 spots (and another 8 spots during the Pre-game show). This represented 27% of the total non-franchised spots.

According to AAFD Chairman, Robert Purvin; "Franchising companies dominated the airwaves to a degree not seen in recent years, but the dramatic increase in advertisements by service industry franchisors was really impressive." Purvin could offer no definitive explanation for the dramatic shift in advertisers, but he speculated that a reported reduction in the average price of a 30 second spot (from $2.3 million two years ago to about $1.9 million this year) may have played a roll.

Said Purvin, "The dot.Com explosion drove the cost of advertising up, and perhaps franchisee ad councils shied away. This year, the absence of dot.com advertisers, and competition from the Winter Olympics, may have made the Super Bowl more attractive to the sophisticated advertising councils." In 2000, more than 20 dot.com companies purchased 36 Super Bowl spots during the game. This year that number was reduced to just 6. Slack demand, and the Winter Olympics, were reportedly the reason that the Fox Network didn't sell out available time slots until 2 days before the game.

This was the 14th time in the 15 years of tracking that franchising ads out numbered spots run by companies that do not engage in franchising. The strength of franchising is further demonstrated when the numbers are broken down. Included in the franchising totals were 21 promotional spots by the Fox Television Network that has franchised affiliates. However, even without Fox's promotional spots, 20 different franchisors invested in 54 thirty-second spots. This total exceeded the number of spots run by all other industry segments combined.

119 total advertisements aired during the game, including 6 public service (anti-smoking and drugs) spots. The total was down substantially from the last two years Although pre and post game ads were not considered, franchisors dominated these shows as well by impressive margins, with H&R Block, Chrysler, General Motors, AT&T Cellular, and Radio Shack taking major sponsorships, along with E-Trade (half time show) Sony Play Station and Hershey's among non-franchisors.

The American Association of Franchisees and Dealers is the oldest and largest direct member non-profit trade association representing the interests of franchisees and independent dealer networks throughout the United States. Stressing market solutions and franchisee empowerment through independent franchisee associations, the AAFD has grown to represent more than 12,000 franchised businesses nationwide.

For more information, contact the AAFD at 800-733-9858, or visit our website.