If you were looking for proof that Paramount is serious about promoting the new Star Trek movie, look no further. In another franchise first, Paramount has purchased time to run a Star Trek commercial during this year’s Super Bowl airing February 1st on NBC. Trek will be joined by a number of other movie spots from Paramount and other studios, details below.
News of Trek’s big play at Super Bowl XLIII came tonight in Variety. According to the report many summer tent poles are getting commercials including the films opening in the weeks after Star Trek. Paramount’s new Star Trek opens May 8th, and Variety confirms commercials will also air for Sony’s Angels and Demons (opening May 15th) and Disney’s Up (opening May 29th). According to the article Fox has not purchased any spots, but they are ‘likely’ get one for Wolverine opening May 1st, but Warner Brother’s is not planning on buying a spot for any films, including Terminator Salvation (opening May 21st). Paramount is also buying spots for GI Joe and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen opening later in the summer.
The Super Bowl is the single largest Television event in the USA each year. Each 30 second ad is estimated to cost $3 Million with an expected audience of nearly 100 million viewers. With the economy being the way it is, many companies are staying away this year, including FedEx who has had special ads in every Super Bowl for the last twelve years. But apparently Hollywood is betting that, like in the past, hard times will actually boost ticket sales.
What will they show?
Due to the cost and competition of Super Bowl ads, companies often create special ads just for the day. DreamWorks Animation will be airing a special (first ever) 3-D preview for their animated comedy Monsters vs. Aliens coming out in March (see the promo below for the promo to come). Paramount is also using the Super Bowl to be the first showing of any footage from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which does not even have a trailer yet.
Monsters and Aliens pre-Superbowl Promo
The mostly likely thing for Star Trek will be to get a 30 seconds spot. Paramount aired a 60-second commercial (edited down from the theatrical trailer) during Fringe and some other shows in November. It is possible the Super Bowl commercial will be a further edit of this one, but hopefully it will show something new.
Star Trek TV Spot #1
Nimoy’s Super Bowl ad
Although the ad for the new Star Trek movie will be the first time Paramount has officially brought Trek to the Super Bowl, it is not the first time Trek has shown up in a Super Bowl ad. Leonard Nimoy starred in a 2006 Aleve Super Bowl ad, featuring a Star Trek convention.
WOW and one before second
I hope Jerry Seinfeld is not in it
Hmm, 100 million views, 100 million tickets at ~10$ a pop, BILLION Dollar haul for Trek XI……BEEEEEPP BEEEEEEEP
Darn, that was my alarm clock.
please some new footage….
this may result in the highest number of trek fans watching football ever…
SO COOL! This is such a good move by Paramount.
Awesome.
Scotty, prepare for touchdown!
Oh my…. this makes me substantially happy.
Spock, you go right and protect McCoy in case he gets double teamed.
I despise football, yet I have a block on my American Legion’s SuperBowl pool, which allows me entry to the SuperBowl party, where the beer is free all night, so of course I go.
The year Leonard Nimoy’s Aleve commercial aired during the game, that is the one and only time I stood up and roared.
Yeah, people stared, but I don’t care, I’m a geek and damn proud of it!
I cannot wait until the SuperBowl party this year, I’m gonna go apeshit when that commercial hits!
So is it Paramount trying to get football fans to see Star Trek, or Trek fans to watch football?
…hmm tough call.
“Paramount has purchased time to run a Star Trek commercial during this year’s Super Bowl airing February 1st on NBC.”
Many thanks, Anthony, for including that last critical piece of data. Without it, I’m sure that vast numbers of us Trekkies out here would have had no clue whatsoever when this “Super Bowl” thingy would take place. I sure know *I* wouldn’t have…
BTW, know that we know the when, how about letting us in on *WHAT* this “Super Bowl” thingy is?
Star Trek and Football, wow, never thought I’d see the day.
Wow. Now almost everyone in the entire country will know about this movie.
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!
A good move. I think Closettrekker and a few others predicted this over the summer.
The best they can do is show something that will make TOS and TNG fans jump out of their seat with excitement. This will grab the new audiance, making them wondering what they have missed. Now they have to go see for themselves.
Will it be a music que? A visual of wonder? An act of courage? Or maybe a tease of what the true Trek Universe is all about.
I agree that this is an excellent idea.
13, that sounds about right. A lot of people watch the superbowl for the ads so now we all know that they will be in for a treat.
EXCELLENT!
I was hoping they would do something like this last year. And im glad they didn’t. Nothing really lets the general public know that this is going to be a major tent pole movie then having a commercial during the Super Bowl. Im just hoping that there will be some new footage in this commercial.
Aleve….wow
That is great news. The more I watch the trailer, the more I want to see it. I’ve showed it to my not-too-trek-friendly friends and they all think it looks good. Looking forward to seeing what they come up with. On a sidenote, I really dig the music they chose and hope they don’t mess with it. It really makes you take notice. Great choice.
AHHHH! YES!!! I’m so geeking out right now haha.
12 – Well, we also are apparently going to have our first product-placement in a “Star Trek” movie. The guys who kick the crap out of young Kirk in the bar reportedly drink Budweiser.
Could a Super-Bowl commercial have been far behind?
Boy, I hope Trek survives “mainstreaming.”
If they want to reel in the football crowd, they had better show the part where Uhura takes her shirt off. By the way, I’m a Trek fan and a football fan, does that mean that there’s something wrong with me?
I’m a pro football fan, I’m a Star Trek fan… I am completely happy here.
THE WOMEN!!
=h=
I normally call my sister during the Super Bowl, she’ll be surprised to hear I’m watching it.
If only we knew *when* it would air exactly…
I hope they don’t show anything new.. I dont want to know anything before the new movie..
HA!!!! LIE!!
I may actually watch the Super Bowl commercials this year… ;)
Yeah, I’m a HUGE football fan and Trekkie, so does that mean that Diggin up Bones, Hitch and I are all in the minority of the minority???
I would encourage everyone here to stay tuned during the actual game as well as the commercials, just to see what all the hype is about this “football” thing they’ve heard so much about. If it’s half as good as last year, the Trek trailer won’t be the only thing we’ll be talking about come sunday morning
Kickoff @ 3:00 pm PST Sunday Feb 1st.
Be There!!!
Or, well, you could watch it at home… I guess
pro football meh, give me rugby anyday lol . nah i normally try to watch some of the super bowel or see the highlights , i have some american friends here in europe who are quite into it , i know its a big thing in the states so it should help people know about the movie.
Do you think we’ll get an MPAA rating in the TV spot?
Wow, trying to get football fans to go see Star Trek, that’s gonna be tough. It takes balls to do it, I’ll give them that, but you figure you can forget the hardcore fans, since they probably used to beat up the kids wearing the starfleet uniforms at school, and I dont care how good this movie is, they wont see it. It’ll be the people that watch the superbowl just because of what it is that will be the effected audience. It’ll sure help get the word out, but they better come up with a fresh preview, I dont think the one that’s out now would make much of a dent.
RE 4. Gibnerd
“… this may result in the highest number of trek fans watching football ever…”
LO L!
My thoughts exactly!
I remember a couple of folks here (not me) calling this one well in advance, and I remember hoping they were right :) It really is a sensible move.
Well, this is a milestone for both Trek and me, this will be the first time ever in my life I wave watched a football game, I hope it’s not too boring before the Trek spot!
15. Ralph – January 8, 2009
” The best they can do is show something that will make TOS and TNG fans jump out of their seat with excitement. ”
This absolutely NOT the best thing they can do. Most TOS and TNG fans are already planning to see the movie. The best thing they can do is to create a trailer that has absolutely nothing to do with the actual movie and fill it with razzle-dazzle hyped-up special effects battle scenes and alien sex scenes, and not show Spock or Kirk at all. This will attract legions of juvenile Bud-Light swilling jocks to the film. Who cares that they’ll be disappointed after buying a ticket and then actually viewing a thought provoking, character-driven, well-written Star Trek movie? They will already have done their job by buying enough tickets to finance the next movie.
The Superbowl is usually the #1 TV event of the year in the USA, and attracts many non-football fans because of its festive and more universal nature. The ads are usually the cream of the crop from the agencies, and are designed to make a lasting impression on the viewer.
On that note, let’s hope Paramount’s agency puts together something special, and not just a squeezed trailer.
36: cugel: I think there is much more overlap between the “legions of Bud-Light swilling jocks” and Tranya-swilling Trekkers than you realize. I have happily “swilled” with aforementioned jocks in front of a Trek marathon or a Trek film. They won’t run out and buy phasers, or remember episode names, but they enjoy it nonetheless.
It seems like there are a lot of other movies being released around the same time as Trek. I’d like to see a more open playing field or seperation, Trek is going to have to compete with a bunch of other Sci-Fi or comic book movies for money and mind share…I’d hate to see it get lost.
Yes Yes Yes!!!! the more mainstream mass media coverage, the better!!! This should bring in trek fans as well as general action flick fans. Definitely a better promotional operation than in the past. Keep it up Paramount!!!
Hopefully the add will have bits from a few different scenes along with a couple of new special effects. Not to mention music from the film, not canned or reused trailer music, although it really worked for the trailer.
I want to here some original score.
=A=
40. AdamTrek – January 9, 2009
I can’t believe you let that sorry excuse for spellchecker post even get through the say it! button.
You’re pathetic.
=A=
The original Trek still has a lot of love from the general population; everyone has watched it growing up or sometime or the other, and are much more nostalgically affectionate toward it and the characters than any new Trek since.
I think this will ignite a desire to see it in those who haven’t thought of it in a long time, but feel that seeing a rip-roaring adventure with Kirk and Spock, with effects on a par with the recent Star Wars movies, would be neat.
OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! YEAH!
42. frederick – January 9, 2009
“…with effects on a par with the recent Star Wars movies…”
Oh my, dear, dear frederick.
What a mess we are in because of your post. If the effects in Trek aren’t twice as good as the last Star Wars film, I along with most folks that post here would be very disappointed.
Re the many “I hate football” comments:
How many know that William Shatner was himself football player?
Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
^37 AJ
Agreed! In my fraternity days, we all enjoyed the Star Trek drinking games: “He’s dead, Jim” meant a full shot! However, there may have been two brothers of fifty that fit anyone’s stereotype of “geek” and even they enjoyed the traditional Sunday afternoon football games on the field near our chapter house.
Sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
#44…
Again, we are talking about the general population, who generally consider the SW movies as the pinnacle of effects magic. Even as aSF movie fan, I can’t see anyone else in the biz beating the effects of ROTS regardless of what some thought of the story.
I’ll second what my bro Hitch said, but…….Roberto, can ya do SOMETHING about correcting that reversed Starfleet delta on Spock’s tunic in that one scene? I mean, I hate to pick at nits here, but jeez……….!
Yeah, football and Trek are not mutually exclusive. I’m a huge football fan (HAIL TO THE REDSKINS) as well as a Trekkie.
I’m not terribly sure how someone can “despise” a sport, but OK.
gee, sounds exciting… however, over here we don’t see the commercials on AFN *tht you all see in the states. Instead we see military themed commercials… many that are corny as corn can be.
Someone will have to let me know what I missed.
* Armed Forces Network