HOBE SOUND, Fla., May 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — The Masters Golf Tournament is held every April at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. It is one of the Nation's most popular sports events. This year's tournament was held on April 10-13. Americans For Responsible Advertising (AFRA) recorded the CBS television broadcast of the last day of the tournament and analyzed the advertising from the time the broadcast came on the air (2:00pm, EST) until the last putt was sunk (6:51pm, EST). During this time there were 38 commercials, which, in total, accounted for a little over 21 minutes of broadcast time. This is an incredibly low average of just 4.4 minutes of advertising per broadcast hour. Very few, if any, television broadcasts of sports events get anywhere near this low.
Virtually all of the advertising on the part of the sponsors (AT&T, IBM, Mercedes-Benz, and the tournament itself) was institutional as opposed to product. That is, the advertising was intended to enhance the images and reputations of the sponsors as opposed to selling specific products. The commercials themselves were all high-quality productions, tasteful and even interesting. When people talk about the Masters Tournament, the words "class," "taste," "manners," and "beauty" are often heard as well they should be. The course itself is beautiful and the broadcasts are a pleasure to watch. Perhaps the only discordant note in this regard is the fact that when the players are interviewed inside the clubhouse they occasionally keep their multi-logo golf caps on. Bobby Jones would never have approved of that.
AFRA, PO Box 1921, Hobe Sound, Florida:
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John Sullivan, 231-392-3882