Dive Brief:
- Three political action committees – Right to Rise supporting Jeb Bush, Conservative Solutions backing Mario Rubio and Ted Cruz’s PAC Stand for Truth – as well as the Rubio campaign proper have all purchased TV spots either before or during the Super Bowl, Ad Age reports.
- According to Ad Age, two ads purchased by PACs are set to run on a Boston station that reaches the New Hampshire market and cost $300,000 for 30 seconds.
- In addition to ads targeting New Hampshire voters, other GOP ads will also run in the South Carolina market.
Dive Insight:
Super Bowl ads are usually fun, innovative and are used to kick off major marketing campaigns or to grab some instant recognition for new brands. Politics is not the usual Super Bowl TV ad fare, but this year is an exception with a crowded Republican field and a lot of money to spend.
The two $300,000 ads running in Boston are the most expensive of the group and were bought by Right to Rise and Conservative Solutions. Ad Age reported that Right to Rise even started a crowdfunding effort to finance the spot. Citing FCC filings, Ad Age notes that between the different PACs and Marco Rubio's campaign, they've spent more than $1 million combined on Super Bowl time.
Brent McGoldrick, CEO of Republican data and analytics firm Deep Root Analytics, told Ad Age, "There is an element to this race which is a bit of 'use it or lose it,' or 'now is the time' because of the [Donald] Trump uncertainty."
The unusual election year for the GOP means that viewers in early primary states won’t get the break from political ads during the Super Bowl they usually experience.