Toshiba to Run HD DVD Ad During Super Bowl
The 30-second spot could cost nearly $3 million.
By Swanni
That's according to an article in this week's Home Media Magazine.
The commercial will highlight Toshiba's HD-A3, HD-A30 and HD-A35 players, all of which received sharp price cuts in the last week. (The HD-A3 HD DVD player is now available for $127 at Amazon.com.)
Toshiba is the leading backer of HD DVD in the high-def disc format war against Blu-ray.
The company is apparently hoping the Super Bowl commercial will spark new interest in HD DVD, which has seen both player and disc sales sag this month after Warner Bros. announced it was endorsing Blu-ray.
(With Warner, Blu-ray has five major studios supporting it exclusively while only two back HD DVD.)
However, Toshiba won't acknowledge that the commercial, which will likely cost around $2.7 million, is a make-or-break spot for the format.
"It has always been our strategy to reach HDTV owners, using advertising on football is just one vehicle," Toshiba's Jodi Sally told Home Media Magazine. "We had advertised on (NBC's) Sunday Night Football all season long."
Home Media reports that the Blu-ray Disc Association declined to run a Super Bowl ad because it could not produce an appropriate spot in time.
"I certain admire (Toshiba's) chutzpah," said Andy Parsons, a spokesman for the Blu-ray group. "Running a Super Bowl ad is not likely to convince consumers that HD DVD will win the format war."
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