Companies paid up to $4 million per 30-second spots for the recent Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks.  This year’s Super Bowl ads were 42 percent higher than in 2004 when spots sold for about $2.3 million.  During the last decade, firms spending the most for Super Bowl ads were Anheuser-Busch InBev, PepsiCo, GM, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney.  RadioShack was a big spender in the 2014 Super Bowl.  Anheuser-Bush just tallied its 26th year as the exclusive beer advertiser at the Super Bowl, this year buying a whopping 3.5 minutes of advertising time for Budweiser and Bud Light. A Bud Light ad was the first commercial to air after kickoff, an expensive spot that usually garners maximum viewership.  Ads in the first half of the game demand a higher rate than those that air in the second half, when viewership can drop off if the game gets lopsided.  George Parker, an advertising specialist and author of “Confessions of a Mad Man,” argues that there may be no relationship at all between ads and sales.  Parker says, “If someone were to do a truly analytical study of the Super Bowls of the last 20 years I guarantee there would be no correlation between [the ads] and increases or declines in sales,” Parker said. “The only way you can directly measure the effect of advertising is in direct marketing,” which is a targeted promotion that provides an immediate point of sale, like an email campaign that encourages recipients to make a direct purchase or inquiry.”

Source:  http://www.ibtimes.com/super-bowl-ads-2014-what-does-4-million-really-buy-you-1551884.