$4 Million 30 Sec Auto Commercials In Not-So Super Bowl

New York February 3, 2014; This year's crop of Super Bowl ads, and the dollars spent on them during Seattle's 43-8 rout of Denver, spotlighted the unique challenges some automakers face in realigning their brand images with their expanding product portfolios.

According to Automotive News, it also illustrated the divergent strategies they are using to build and maintain buzz around their big-budget marketing bets.

Drawing on a mix of big headed dogs, Muppets, mayhem, matchmakers, and "The Matrix," automakers once again dominated the commercial breaks during the championship game, accounting for at least 13 minutes of advertising time in a 3-1/2-hour broadcast, and seeking to impress the game's estimated 100 million viewers with a brand message that, to them, was worth paying $8 million a minute to convey.

For Jaguar, the Indian-owned luxury brand making its Super Bowl debut, the game was a chance to assert a British automotive identity that's more anti-establishment and less walnut wood and Grey Poupon.

For Kia, a value brand trying to launch a $60,000 sedan in the United States, it was a chance to challenge long-held perceptions of what constitutes luxury.

For Toyota, it was a chance to channel the executives at headquarters and declare: We are not boring.

For Chevy, whose pickup truck ads have long plodded through images of hard labor, it was a chance to demonstrate that there's some excitement down on the ranch after all.

For Toyota, it was a chance to channel the executives at headquarters and declare: We are not boring.

For Chrysler, it was a chance to capitalize on the anticipation that has come to surround its Super Bowl entries, ever since Eminem reminded the world where cars come from.