Women were more than twice as likely as men to say they enjoyed watching the ads (36 percent vs. 17 percent)

According to a survey of 1,500 Americans who plan to watch Sunday's Super Bowl, men are looking forward to the game while women are more likely looking forward to watching the ads, including this year’s line-up of consumer generated commercials.

Although the Super Bowl will be watched by a wide majority of Americans, men and women reported substantial differences in the aspects of the game they most enjoy. Men overwhelmingly responded that “watching the game” (64 percent) was the most enjoyable part of the festivities, while fewer than half of women responded in kind (31 percent). Conversely, women were more than twice as likely as men to say they enjoyed watching the ads (36 percent vs. 17 percent). Women were also more likely to respond that their favorite aspect was spending time with friends or family (22 percent vs. 13 percent) and the half-time show (9 percent vs. 4 percent).

Consumer Generated Commercials Attract Pre-Game Interest
During this year’s Super Bowl, some brands will be joining the consumer generated content bandwagon by airing commercials created, filmed, and produced by members of the general public. Among the brands intending to air these commercials are Doritos, Chevrolet, and the NFL. In the months leading up to the Super Bowl, Doritos promoted consumer generated ads for its brand at www.crashthesuperbowl.com, where people could view and vote for their favorite submissions. From January 1st through January 28th, the site attracted 227,000 unique visitors, which demonstrates the broadening appeal of the consumer generated content phenomenon.

In fact, when asked about their expectations for these commercials, more than twice as many respondents (27 percent) said they thought the consumer generated commercials would be more entertaining than thought the professionally-produced commercials would be (13 percent). Women had even higher expectations for the consumer generated commercials, with 32 percent believing these spots would be more entertaining, and just 10 percent favoring the professionally-produced commercials.

Doritos’ effective promotion of the consumer generated commercial concept appears to be influencing consumer opinions. Thirty-three percent of respondents said that they were looking forward to seeing the Doritos ads, ranking the brand second only to perennially popular Super Bowl advertiser Anheuser-Busch (66 percent) in terms of consumer anticipation. Fed Ex, Pizza Hut, and GoDaddy.com each benefited from noteworthy ads during the 2006 Super Bowl, with more than 20 percent of respondents saying they were looking forward to this year’s spots.

Of those planning to log onto the Internet on the day of the game, many will do so for Super Bowl-related reasons. Fifteen percent plan to log on to monitor Super Bowl stats and stories, while 13 percent will look for recipe and party ideas. Super Bowl advertisements are also likely to spur Internet usage on game day, with 11 percent of those surveyed intending to watch ads online and 10 percent planning to visit Web sites of Super Bowl advertisers.

Fans Predict Colts to Win, Manning to be Named as MVP
Indianapolis registered as the slight Super Bowl favorites, with 53 percent predicting that the Colts would walk away with this year’s Lombardi Trophy. Prognosticators also indicated that the quarterback position will be especially pivotal to the game’s outcome, as both teams’ quarterbacks were selected as the most likely candidates to win Super Bowl MVP. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was selected as the most likely MVP with 37 percent of the vote, while Rex Grossman was the top choice on the Chicago Bears with 13 percent, edging out teammate and All-Pro linebacker Brian Urlacher with 12 percent.