7. The Super Bowl created a new genre in television advertising
Of the 20 most-watched scheduled television broadcasts in American history, 19 have been Super Bowls (the exception is the finale for M*A*S*H). As a result, the game is an ardently desired advertising platform. It is also an expensive one, which will be seen later. The game’s audience is diverse, appealing well beyond football fans, and in the late 20th century a new cultural phenomenon emerged regarding its audience. Many people claimed to watch the game solely for its commercials. “Super Bowl commercials” entered the American consciousness, and many were discussed the next day as avidly as the game itself. In the beginning, the ads and advertisers were more or less the same as for any NFL broadcasts. That changed beginning in the 1980s.
Although several notable Super Bowl ads aired in years before it, Apple Computer changed the game with its ad entitled 1984, which appeared on January 22 of that year. Critically acclaimed, it is often cited as the greatest Super Bowl commercial of all time. By the 1990s numerous newspapers and media held surveys rating Super Bowl ads. By the 21st century network specials played the greatest Super Bowl ads of the past, usually as part of the pregame hype which dominates the airwaves on the network televising the game. As of this writing, the NFL avoids political advertising and refuses to air commercials for hard liquor, as well as for gambling facilities.