Mayor Bloomberg's interest (if he really has any) in this year's Super Bowl goes beyond the Giants and his big bet with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. See, the man won't just be watching the big game live and in person but, at least to viewers in the Northeast, he's going to be sharing screen time with it. Yup, hizzoner's got an ad in the biggest advertising game going.
As Bloomberg tweeted yesterday, "We disagree on who'll win the #Superbowl, but @MayorTomMenino & I agree on fighting illegal guns." And to prove it the two shot a commercial on Tuesday for the Mayors Against Illegal Guns group which they are both members of (and which Bloomberg gives lots of money to). And before you freak out about what a waste of $3.5 million for 30-seconds this ad will be, Bloomberg insists the group just bought a regional ad which will cost only "hundreds of thousands of dollars" (though maybe having the ad air in other regions might not have been a bad idea?).
Details on the 30-second spot are few and far between, beyond the picture that Bloomberg tweeted and the few hints the two mayors have dropped about it. "It’s a fun way to get a very serious message across to the decision makers," Menino told reporters, adding, "If you want to hunt or you need a gun for protection of your business, O.K., but there’s too many loopholes."
Asked about the ad a spokesperson for the mayor explained, "a New York-Boston Super Bowl is a perfect opportunity for the mayors to talk about fixing the nation’s background-check system."
