There are many different forms of advertisement today. From old fashioned newspaper and magazine advertisements to newer digital marketing campaigns. Separate studies have shown the prominence of billboard advertising and paper advertising in subway stations (Hackbarth et al. 1995, Lucan et al. 2017). Certain advertisements are placed and set up with a purpose; the alcohol, tobacco and food advertisements on billboards and paper ads can be seen in predominantly lower socioeconomic areas (Hackbarth et al. 1995, Lucan et al. 2017).
Researchers have also examined television advertisements and sought to expose advertising tactics. Morgenstern et al. (2015) described and classified alcohol advertisements aired on national television in terms of contents, airing times, and channel placements in order to identify different marketing strategies of alcohol brands. They identified a key class to be “sports”, tying it closely to my study of the Super Bowl. Much as I expect to find, the authors emphasized that an alcohol advertising tactic was to connect the alcoholic products directly to sports and specific sporting events.
American football on green grass with Super Bowl text on black background by Jernej Furman. Flickr by CC-BY
Another set of studies conducted highlighted Super Bowl commercials in particular (MacLean et al. 2017, Hatzithomasa et al. 2016). The two studies differed in tactics, but ultimately examined Super Bowl commercials and advertisements, just as I am planning to do. Hatzithomasa et al. (2016) explains that the Super Bowl is arguably the most important event in U.S. television advertising and claims that it is supported by MacLean et al. (2017). Both studies outline the amount of praise and fame that comes with the much hyped Super Bowl commercials. With the focus on gender, alcohol, and advertising there was an increase during the airing of the 2017 Super Bowl, alcohol was referenced in 13% of commercials, this is up from less than 5% in the 2015 Super Bowl (MacLean et al. 2017:165).