Decline Watch: GM drops Super Bowl advertising for Manchester United

Last month, General Motors announced that it would not be advertising in this year’s Super Bowl, because of the high prices charged by network CBS. But as the Detroit Free Press reports, the company isn’t pulling out of sports advertising, it’s just looking further afield:  General Motors, which said earlier this month it would not ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
ANDREW YATES/AFP/GettyImages
ANDREW YATES/AFP/GettyImages
ANDREW YATES/AFP/GettyImages

Last month, General Motors announced that it would not be advertising in this year's Super Bowl, because of the high prices charged by network CBS. But as the Detroit Free Press reports, the company isn't pulling out of sports advertising, it's just looking further afield: 

Last month, General Motors announced that it would not be advertising in this year’s Super Bowl, because of the high prices charged by network CBS. But as the Detroit Free Press reports, the company isn’t pulling out of sports advertising, it’s just looking further afield: 

General Motors, which said earlier this month it would not advertise in next year’s Super Bowl, plans to announce today a broad marketing and sponsorship plan with the Manchester United soccer team, a person familiar with GM’s plans confirmed.

The deal would give GM major visibility alongside a soccer team that has a worldwide following — and it would fit with the automaker’s strategy of making Chevrolet and Cadillac strong global brands.[…]

Manchester United, one of the most successful clubs in English soccer, released a survey Tuesday conducted by Kantar Media Compete that showed it has 659 million followers throughout the world. But about 89.2% of its fans are located outside the Americas, the survey found. The team is particularly popular in Asia, where it has 325 million followers. It also boasts 173 million in the Middle East and Africa.

As Yiping Yang notes, Chevy will be sponsoring two Man U games in China this summer as part of the deal. 

It seems like a good idea on paper, but has anyone told them how few commercial breaks there are in a soccer game?

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

More from Foreign Policy

Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.
Keri Russell as Kate Wyler walks by a State Department Seal from a scene in The Diplomat, a new Netflix show about the foreign service.

At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment

Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron speak in the garden of the governor of Guangdong's residence in Guangzhou, China, on April 7.

How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China

As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin greets U.S. President George W. Bush prior to a meeting of APEC leaders in 2001.

What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal

Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.

A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.
A girl stands atop a destroyed Russian tank.

Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust

Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.