PLB Sports Nation

A lot of people are still trying to argue that internet advertising is fickle, or that social media is a fad…

I have to firmly disagree.

The proof?  Whenever one of the largest companies in America opts to not advertise in the single largest yearly event on American television?  That should be pretty telling.

Pepsi will not advertise its drinks in next year’s Super Bowl, ending a 23-year run so the company can focus on a new marketing effort that will appear mostly online.

Pepsi beverages have been advertised in the Super Bowl since 1987. Frito-Lay, a unit of parent company PepsiCo Inc., will still advertise.

The company, which is based in Purchase, N.Y., wouldn’t say how much it spent last year on Super Bowl ads, but it was one of the biggest advertisers, buying several minutes of commercial time. Ad time last year cost about $3 million for 30 seconds, on average.

Pepsi recognizes Super Bowl ads can be effective for marketing, spokeswoman Nicole Bradley said, but the game doesn’t work with the company’s goals next year.

“In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event and more about a movement,” she said. (via ESPN)

“Pepsi recognizes Super Bowl ads can be effective for marketing, but the game doesn’t work with the company’s goals for next year.”

Wow.  Does Pepsi realize that Career Builder advertises during the Super Bowl? Sobe Life Water?  What do those products have to do with football at all?  And yet they still advertised.  That’s why Pepsi choosing not to advertise is such a big deal.  It’s like turning down a dinner at an expensive restaurant to go to the local burger joint.  Of course, maybe Pepsi is realizing that the local burger joint can be just as filling as the expensive dinner?  That seems to be their mindset.

Sometimes, a bunch of little successes can be more advantageous than one big expensive win.  If Pepsi has found the secret to success with their abstention from Super Bowl advertising and a focus on the internet, it will be interesting to see if other companies follow suit.