At 7:38 PM EST last night, if you were watching the Super Bowl (and who wasn’t?) immediately after the Patriots kicked their second field goal, as standard programming, the network, NBC, broke to commercial. If your party was like mine, everyone raced back into the room to see the next commercials. What we saw was the black image similar to above on the television or what ever screen you were viewing the game.
For a full 30 seconds or $5 Million, (that’s FIVE MILLION DOLLARS!) in air cost, the screen was completely BLACK. No audio. Nothing! It was an eerie feeling for our Super Bowl fans watching the Game at the Board residence. You, me, we, all 110 million (not my party attendance but estimated TV audience) of us wondered what happened? The announcers said nothing. Later, on Twitter, the network, NBC, stated it was ‘equipment failure’. It may be by the time this post hits your mailboxes at 7 AM this morning, a more detailed explanation will be offered.
Tide sent out a tweet immediately with, “Clean clothes are still clean in the dark. If it’s clean, it’s a #TideAd.” Doritos’ tweeted, “Why you gotta keep us in the dark like that @NBC?”
Imagine the make good value on the failure. Refund the dough? Not likely and not good enough. How does 30 seconds of that kind of airtime get, MADE, GOOD? It’s not just the numbers or impressions. It’s the mood or state of mind the viewer is in.The interrupted flow of the party. How does one replace the association with Super Bowl 52? Or temper the disappointing anticipation and the lost discussions about the ads which would have played around the juice bar in the office this morning? Tough to make good. What would you want if you were an advertiser? Does any one know what they would be offered?
