Our Loud Eating Is Why Super Bowl TV Commercials Don’t Work Anymore

If you’re a corporation paying big bucks for a Super Bowl ad, you may want to take a beat. In a recent report by NPR, consumers have a harder time absorbing Super Bowl ads thanks to a phenomenon referred to as oral interference.

Shankar Vedantam, who runs a byline for NPR, recently stated in an interview that the more folks eat while watching the Super Bowl, the louder they chew. This causes oral interference, making it harder for them to absorb the commercials they watch.

According to Vedantam, a researcher named Martin Geisenberg, Ph.D., analyzed the effectiveness of ads based around major sporting events. In doing so, he set out to determine if it was more effective to spend $4 million for a 30-second game day ad or the same amount for multiple ads throughout the year.

Analyzing 206 different brands shown over sporting events in the UK over four years (Olympics, World Cup), Geisenberg discovered that companies definitely have a handicap when it comes to advertising during a big sporting event. At least when it comes to immediate sales. Brand recognition, however, seems to still be effective.

Think about it. It would definitely be harder to fully immerse yourself in a commercial when you’re crunching on a mouthful of Cool Ranch corn nuts.

Looking back, we can actually remember the visuals of an advertisement, but not the actual product it’s trying to promote.

Guess it makes sense that some brands are releasing their ads a bit before game day.