Companies increasingly debut their Super Bowl commercials online a week early not just for hype, but as a crucial risk management tactic. By monitoring social media comments and public sentiment, brands can gauge reactions and pull an ad if it's unexpectedly controversial, preventing a potential PR disaster and protecting their massive investment.

The backlash transformed a standard ad campaign into a cultural phenomenon that generated 45 billion impressions. This massive earned media reach dwarfed competitor campaigns, demonstrating that provocative work—even with negative reactions—can deliver far greater ROI than a safe media buy.

The widely reported $10M price for a Super Bowl ad slot is only one-third of the true cost. The other two-thirds are spent on production/talent and, crucially, the post-game 'drag factor'—a follow-up marketing campaign to convert initial awareness into actual sales.

Wix's CMO views expensive brand activities like Super Bowl ads through a dual lens. While building the brand is key, the investment must also generate a measurable spike in relevant user traffic to be considered successful. All marketing, regardless of type, must be treated as an investment.

Despite an $8M+ price tag, a Super Bowl ad's cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) of $60-$80 is comparable to LinkedIn's $35-$80 range. Given the Super Bowl's high engagement and cultural impact versus passive scrolling on social media, the relative value can be a strategic bargain for large brands.

To counter a competitor's expensive Super Bowl launch, the Old Spice team posted their ad on YouTube and Facebook the Friday before the game. The ad went so viral over the weekend that it was included in Monday's Super Bowl ad roundups, achieving massive reach for free.

Brands over-invest in TV, mistaking ad placement for consumer attention. Viewers are distracted during commercials. Social media ads, integrated into feeds, capture actual attention more effectively and provide better ROI, even for older demographics who are heavily on platforms like Facebook.

TBPN, a media company, ran a Super Bowl ad not to sell a product, but as a gesture to its community, featuring guests and partners. This counterintuitive marketing spend builds brand affinity and can be justified as being done "purely for fun."

To sell leadership on brand initiatives with indirect ROI, translate organic performance into paid media equivalents. Calculate what the millions of impressions from a viral video would have cost via paid channels. Frame it as a cost-effective way to build brand and lower overall CAC.