ST. LOUIS, Ill., Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Anheuser-Busch will dominate the pricey off-field Super Bowl time with its five minutes of ads, almost twice as much as any other advertiser.
With the average cost of a 30-second ad at $2.3 million, the maker of Budweiser and Bud Light beer has spent approximately $23 million for nine ads airing during CBS' Feb. 1 telecast of Super Bowl XXXVIII, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday.
The commercials will feature a familiar cast of characters, including St. Louis native Cedric the Entertainer and a bumbling football referee.
One spot that has piqued interest is a 60-second commercial that depicts a donkey who wants to be a Clydesdale horse. The spot is a variation of the St. Louis-based brewery's Super Bowl commercials in which the Clydesdales play football.
Other big spenders for the high-dollar ad spots are Pepsi-Cola Co., with three minutes of commercials, and General Motors Corp., America Online and the National Football League with a minute and a half each.
