If you're looking for a little trivia tidbit that will impress everyone at your Super Bowl party, you've come to the right place, because we're about to get to the bottom of something I've always wondered about: why do ads call the Super Bowl as "the big game"? You've noticed that too, right? I'm not crazy? We all know that Super Bowl 50 (I guess "Super Bowl L" just doesn't have the same ring to it) is coming up on Feb. 7, but not that many advertisers seem to be capitalizing on that, instead using phrases like "the pro-championship" or the aforementioned "the big game." And as it turns out, that's for a reason — the National Football League ("NFL" to its friends) has actually trademarked the term "Super Bowl," and if you use it without permission, you get a nice cease-and-desist order delivered right to your doorstep.
And the only way to get permission to use the phrase itself? By paying for one of those prime Super Bowl ad spots. It's actually a pretty smart deal they have going on for themselves, because it keeps the field of Super Bowl ads ultra-exclusive, and therefore ultra-desirable. It's how they've gotten the price of a single Super Bowl ad up to over $5 million for 2016. If just any old person was allowed to call their ad a "Super Bowl ad," and use the term willy-nilly, it would be much less appealing to these big brands, and they wouldn't be as likely to shell out the big bucks.
So there you have it! Mystery solved! And boy are you gonna look like the smartest person at your Very Important Sports Kicker party.
Image: giphy
