Everybody knows Super Bowl ads are extremely expensive. Newcastle and 37 other companies have come up with a novel idea to afford the hefty cost: crowdfunding.
The Newcastle “Band of Brands” ad brought together 37 companies of all stripes to release the spot, the first ever of its kind, according to a press release.
Newcastle introduced the Band of Brands concept with an online video featuring “Parks and Recreation” actress Aubrey Plaza, calling for brands to join the project in exchange for a small contribution. “Instead of blowing Newcastle’s marketing budget, let’s team up to blow all of our marketing budgets, together! That’s called teamwork,” Plaza said in the video.
The Band of Brands spot will air during the Super Bowl, and premieres today on NewcastleBandOfBrands.com.
The ad features these sponsors: AmeriMerch.com, AprilUmbrellas.com, Armstrong Flooring and Ceilings, Beanitos Chips, Blettner Engineering, Boost Mobile, Brawny Paper Towels , Charisma, Detroit Beard Collective, District 78, Dixie, East End Leisure Co., Gladiator GarageWorks, Hello Products Oral Care, Hunt’s Tomatoes, JackThreads, Jockey, Kern Group Security, Kibo Active + Leisure Wear, Krave Jerky, Las Vegas, Lee Jeans, Match.com, McClure’s Pickles, Mr. Cheese O’s, Polished Dental, Quilted Northern, Quinn Popcorn, Rosarita Beans, RO*TEL, Second Chance Custom, Sharper Image, Tessemae’s All-Natural Dressings, The Ross Farm, Vanity Fair Napkins, YP.com and Zendure Batteries.
“Not only did we create the world’s first crowdfunded Big Game ad, but I’m pretty sure we just made the cheapest Big Game ad ever,” said Priscilla Flores Dohnert, brand director for Newcastle Brown Ale. “By asking other brands to team up with our brand we are making a statement that Big Game advertising should be accessible to everyone, whether they can afford it or not.”
Said Todd Fletcher, vice president of marketing of Tessamae’s All-Natural Dressings, “Airing a Big Game ad is something I never thought we’d be able to do, but the idea of just tossing our name into Newcastle’s existing work was too good to pass up . . . I’m excited for our brand to get in front of fractions of portions of shares of millions of eyeballs.”
The “Band of Brands” program was created by Newcastle in partnership with Droga5, Fast Horse and MediaVest, as part of Newcastle’s “No Bollocks” campaign, which takes a lighthearted, no-nonsense, honest approach to marketing by shining a light on the silly, stale and sometimes deceptive clichés often found in beer advertising.
