Article: Political Ads May Invade Super Bowl

According to this article, next year's Super Bowl may be invaded by presidential campaign ads. If this happens, it will likely be a result of the fact that a number of very large states are holding their primary elections in early February.

The article outlines a few interesting strategic and tactical considerations campaigns will have to take into account if they consider whether or not to advertise during the Super Bowl:

- "The Super Bowl aside, candidates, strategists and their media buyers will have difficult choices heading into the Feb. 5 primaries. A weeklong ad that runs statewide in California or New Jersey, for example, can cost between $2 million and $4 million, depending on how often it airs. Three ads like that could create a serious financial crunch for a campaign."

- "Campaigns will have to decide whether to compete region by region, market by market, station by station or whether it's ultimately more efficient to run national network ads, a relative rarity in politics."

- "Of the more than 20 states contemplating or already scheduled to hold a Feb. 5 primary or caucus, 14 have a total of 18 NFL teams."

- "A good Super Bowl ad benefits from vast media attention, extending the buzz it generates for days." Tobe Berkovitz, associate dean of communications at Boston University and an expert on political advertising, had this to say: "If your spot is really good, you can end up quadrupling the benefit of that ad." But, Berkovitz cautioned: "You run a piece of junk and you're going to take a hammering that will be incredibly destructive to your campaign."

- Running a national network ad would defy a trend in political campaigns to use "micro-targeting" techniques to reach voters with surgical precision.