A group of University of Iowa business students were assigned to watch last night’s Super Bowl, not necessarily for the game, but for the commercials. Each 30-second ad reportedly cost two-and-a-quarter million dollars, so U-of-I marketing professor Baba Shiv wanted to find out if it’s money well-spent. He quizzed the students on the best and worst ads from the big bowl game, based both on their entertainment value and from a business standpoint. During the game itself, there were 54 commercials. The students liked the series of Budweiser spots the best for their humorous uses of animals, including dogs and donkeys. Lowest ranked on the list were car commercials and those advertising movies and TV shows. Students called those boring and a waste of time. Professor Shiv plans to use the results of the survey in his classes.
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