Advertising: Groupon Ad on Super Bowl Rated a Miss by Many Fans

Groupon CEO admits that the spots spoofing hot-button issues 'didn't work' and apologizes for offending viewers.Groupon's Super Bowl ads have been seen by many as a fumble on the part of the increasingly influential website. So, on Friday, Groupon Chief Executive Andrew Mason called an audible and ditched the controversial advertising campaign.

Advertisers spend millions of dollars for 30 seconds of precious Super Bowl air time every year. With over 100 million people watching, advertisers need to make a killer commercial to get their money's worth. This is how a hit Super Bowl commercial gets made:

Super Bowl ads are getting costlier more quickly than ever -- and more numerous.

Psy, the South Korean global phenomenon who set social-media popularity records with his Gangnam Style YouTube music and dancing video, will star in a Super Bowl commercial for Wonderful Pistachios.

This Sunday, advertisers tried to pull out all the stops for their $4 million 30-second Super Bowl commercial slots. That often meant shelling out even more money to secure a huge celebrity to star in the ad. But was it worth it?

This Sunday, more than 100 million American viewers are expected to tune in to watch the San Francisco 49ers play the Baltimore Ravens as part of Super Bowl XLVII.  For some viewers, the ads are even more exciting than the game, and companies have paid a record-setting premium this year to broadcast their spots.  

The cost of advertising in the Super Bowl is rising, running an average of $4 million for a 30-second spot—up from $3.5 million last year and just $42,000 back in 1967. To justify the expense, advertisers aim to present fans with something more than just another entertaining but ultimately forgettable commercial. How do they plan on doing it? Here are a few of the ways: Longer Commercials The most talked-about ad from last year’s Super Bowl was Chrysler‘s “It’s Halftime in America” featuring Clint Eastwood.