Super Bowl XLI “Connectile Dysfunction” Ad Initial Post Game Report More Detailed Analysis to Come

1. Super Bowl XLI “Connectile Dysfunction” AdInitial Post Game ReportMore Detailed Analysis to Come February 9, 2007

2. Overview of SBXLI “Ad Bowl” Buzz • Most of the buzz on the Super Bowl XLI advertising keep most consumers viewed this year as “flat” in terms of standouts. • The consumer-generated ads received attention as the first big debut of this type of advertising tactic. • Most media that reviewed the ads have also posted the ads on their sites or via links – including the Sprint ad – which is garnering further earned added pass around value. • SPRINT AD: • The tonality of media coverage has been primarily positive • Consumer emails (very few yet) have been positive • Employee emails have been very few and little/no complaints.

3. Value for Share – National Ratings • With an estimated cost of $1.1 – $2.6 million per spot, Sprint was able to secure its slot for $400,000. (Negotiated based on last-minute Playoff buys and changes.) • The game produced a 42.0 HH rating and a 64 share. • These are LIVE ratings so they should not differ much from when the final numbers are posted. • Last year's game generated a 41.5 HH rtg and a 62 share. • Sprint's spot appeared in position 11B right at the 2 minute warning in the 1st half which was at approximately 7:45pm EST. • The average HH rating in that half hour was a 42.4 which is right on par with the overall average of the game.

4. CD Ad: Media Reaction Mainstream Media Sampling • Friday’s front page screen grab with branded connection card and Sprint mention. • Monday’s ad track puts Sprint squarely in the center of the of pack (not top ten, not five least popular) – but ranked 30th among “the rest” of the popular spots. Sprint was one of only 15 spots that gained a full photo and mention on the Ad Meter. – USA Today • Saturday: SPRINT NEXTEL -- By now, even the most spoof-loving consumer is probably tired of commercials that mock commercials for prescription drugs. But a spot from Sprint Nextel managed to elicit laughs. The parody was dead-on, down to the hushed-voice announcer promising that Sprint Mobile Broadband would help those who ''can't take care of business the way others do'' by curing their ''connectile dysfunction.'' Agency: Publicis & Hal Riney, part of the Publicis Groupe. • Monday: Sight gags were back, including one from Bud Light early in the game showing a rather unusual tactic for winning at rock-paper-scissors -- throwing an actual rock at the head of your opponent. The gag wasn't completely new, however, since last year Sprint Nextel Corp. featured a phone with a ''crime deterrent'' -- which turned out to be throwing the phone at someone's head. – New York Times • SCORE: It's wireless provider Sprint's nod to the guy who " ... just can't get the job done." We see this poor sap, his cell dangling impotently, twisting and turning, looking for a place to point his sad equipment in hopes of getting a signal. They call it "Connectile Dysfunction." Yeah, that's one I'll remember. Now if only Sprint could be as clever with actually providing good service as they are at good advertising. - Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinal

5. …cont. • This year's Super Bowl ads offered "safe" humor, and Sprint came away with the win. The telecommunications giant earned an A with this year's highest score from the Kellogg School Super Bowl Advertising Review. – Yahoo • The Good: Smartest satire: Sprint broadband's "Connectile Dysfunction" parody spot. – Sacramento Bee • Best commercial of the second quarter: Connectile Dysfunction ... a sendup of those other commercials.We see a businessman dragging. "You know the feeling," the announcer says. "You can’t take care of business the way others do. It’s called connectile dysfuntion." The cause: inadequate broadband coverage. The advertiser: Sprint. – Orlando Sentinel • A Sprint ad for wireless broadband spoke of connectile dysfunction. It was a spot-on parody. The question is whether the subject was a laughing matter for the audience. – Yamika Herald, Washington. • Top Ten Countdown: 9. Sprint (Connectile dysfunction): If only the Viagra and Cialis ads could be this funny. – Quincy Herald, Illinois.

6. …cont. • Manning, 30, is one of the most marketable athletes in any sport, having starred in commercials for Sprint, Reebok, DirecTV, Gatorade, ESPN and MasterCard. Wearing those cheesy moustaches and yelling “Cut that meat” has earned him more than $11 million in endorsement fees, according to the Indianapolis Star. -Kansas City Star, MO • Whether by stroll or sprint, Peyton Manning arrives at the line of scrimmage with head spinning and heart slowed. It's time for the Indianapolis Colts quarterback to make another split-second, crucial decision. Is anything more important in football than the next play? Once at the line, huddle be darned, Manning scans the defense while contemplating a package of three or four plays called into his helmet by offensive coordinator Tom Moore. - Denver Post • The Sprint NFL Access Tour features appearances by NFL greats, including Julius Jones, Willis McGahee, Larry Izzo, Reggie Brown, Mark Clayton, Mark Duper and former Miami Dolphin coach Don Shula. –Miami Herald • Then, after dialing up some friends on a Sprint cell phone and chugging some Gatorade, they'll be ready to watch the former University of Tennessee star lead the Indianapolis Colts against the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI on Sunday. – First Coast News • Then, after dialing up some friends on a Sprint cell phone and chugging some Gatorade, they'll be ready to watch the former University of Tennessee star lead the Indianapolis Colts against the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI on Sunday. – Indianapolis Star

7. …cont. • Lori Joseph , director of business advertising at Sprint Nextel Corp., said the extra expense is worth it. "If you're going to be on a premier program," said Joseph, and "if they're going to broadcast it in HD, you want to be able to show (the ad) in HD as well. – Boston Globe • Super Bowl stalwarts PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, Pizza Hut, Doritos, FedEx, Sprint, General Motors and Careerbuilder.com – E!Online • Post piece on Monday with Barbara Lippert – CBS Early Show (TV) • Sports marketing experts attribute Manning's success to his wholesome, folksy image, his deft ability to poke fun at himself and his acting ability. Manning donned a fake mustache as a disguise to talk up his own "laser rocket arm" -- and Sprint cell phones. In one of MasterCard's "Priceless" ads, Manning turns the table on a grocery stock boy and asks him to autograph a melon and a loaf of bread. – Indy Star • Super Bowl win could give Peyton bigger piece of picture - Sprint Nextel Corporation ads. - The Clarion Ledger, Mississippi • Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is willing to wear a wig and moustache in an ad for Sprint. – Fort Wayne Gazette • Here were Super Bowl XLI's top 10 commercials according to a tried-and-true formula. Each commercial received an average score after being graded by a panel of TV watchers on a 1-to-10 scale by each contributor. That panel consisted of my daughter, Kaysi, and myself. 9. Sprint (Connectile dysfunction): If only the Viagra and Cialis ads could be this funny. - The Quincy Herald Whig

8. …cont. • Manning is everything you want in a pro quarterback, "if you like 6-5 ... 235 pounds ... rocket ... laser arm." (That's from his Sprint commercial.) He also has that attractive Everyman quality that makes him a perfect corporate pitchman. - The Baltimore Sun • Subscribers to the service were able to commercials via TiVo’s Product Watch advertising-search service. Companies that offered commercial downloads included Anheuser-Busch, DaimlerChrysler, Emerald Nuts, FedEx, General Motors, GoDaddy.com (www.godaddy.com), American Honda Motor, Michelin, Nationwide Mutual Insurance, Sprint Nextel and Taco Bell. – Multichannel News • Additional ads from Anheuser-Busch and ads from Coca-Cola and Sprint scored well in the poll, while the Unitedway.org and Salesgenie.com were among spots that brought up the rear. Here's how the faculty graded the commercials: Sprint (connectile dysfunction) 126 - WZZM Ch. 13, ABC Grand Rapids, MI • U-of-I students rate Super Bowl adsby Mark Geary, KCRG-TV, Cedar RapidsIt's become an annual tradition for University of Iowa marketing students to evaluate the ads during the Super Bowl. Grad student Jim Bovinet said nearly every commercial had one thing in common this year: humor. The Budweiser ads scored the highest this year. Blockbuster's "pet store" ad also did well along with the sprint "connectile dysfunction" commercial. On the other hand, the Revlon Sheryl Crow ad fell near the bottom.- Radio Iowa • Every year, I watch the Super Bowl with pen and notebook, jotting down thoughts about, mainly, the commercials, because we always discuss them on the radio the next day with ad guru Steve Wolfberg  and because one year I had a bunch of margaritas at a Super Bowl party and wound up not remembering ANY of the commercialssprint commercial on connectile dysfunction makes fun of Pharma commercials.  You'd say they really mastered the tropes of those ads, but then you'd be forgetting that the same people make all the ads.- Hartford Courant

9. …cont. • CHEAPIE RIP-OFF Budweiser alters a classic "rock-paper-scissors" duel by having the winner knock down the loser with a rock. Hey, remember last year's Sprint ad, when one man fells another with a thrown phone? - Tri Valley Herald, Ca • Additional ads from Anheuser-Busch and ads from Coca-Cola and Sprint scored well in the poll, while the Unitedway.org and Salesgenie.com were among spots that brought up the rear. Sprint (Connectile Dysfunction) 126. - Michigan State University News • SPRINT This clever spot from Sprint alerted us to the dangers of connectile dysfunction, a sendup of commercials for you know what. We see a dragging businessman. "You know the feeling," the announcer says. "You can't take care of business the way others do." The cause -- inadequate broadband coverage. - Orlando Sentinel • This Super Bowl was the first time subscribers were able to download their favorite commercials to their TiVo box via the Internet using its "Product Watch" service, which allowed viewers to use the TiVo interface to find their favorite ad online and record it to a broadband-enabled TiVo unit. Participating advertisers included Anheuser-Busch, Chrysler, Emerald Nuts, Fed Ex, GM, GoDaddy.com, Honda, Michelin, Nationwide, Sprint, and Taco Bell. - Broadcasting & Cable • Best catch phrase in a commercial: Sprint Mobile Broadband promised its reliable service will prevent “Connectile Dysfunction.” Ahem. - The State, South Carolina

10. …cont. • Speaking of men, it's always safe to make fun of them and have them look stupid in an ad. Sometimes, the strategy worked well, as in the Sprint spot on "connectile dysfunction." - Detroit Free Press • SCORE: It's wireless provider Sprint's nod to the guy who " ... just can't get the job done." We see this poor sap, his cell dangling impotently, twisting and turning, looking for a place to point his sad equipment in hopes of getting a signal. They call it "Connectile Dysfunction." Yeah, that's one I'll remember. Now if only Sprint could be as clever with actually providing good service as they are at good advertising. - South Florida Sun-Sentinel • Best commercials - Sprint Mobile's "Connectile Dysfunction," Bud Light's "Wedding Auction," Godaddy.com's "Marketing Department," Nationwide's Kevin Federline ad (yes, Kevin Federline and best are in the same sentence), Robert Goulet's ad for Emerald mixed nuts. - Delaware County Times, PA • That's not to say Budweiser got the most mileage from its $2.6 million for each of those many 30-second gems and rhinestones; rather, that distinction belonged to FedEx -- with the day's first truly creative spot, featuring a moon-based office; and Sprint, which spoofed erectile dysfunction ads by coining its own term for the broadband age, "connectile dysfunction." – Variety.com • According to the annual Kellogg School of Management Super Bowl Advertising Review, Sprint Nextel scored the best ad, while Garmin’s ranked as the worst. - The Kansas City Star

11. cont. • Chef Johnny Vincenz, owner of Miami hotspot "Johnny V's," welcomed them with a private, three-course dinner for them, Miami style — steak and seafood to their hearts' content. Then, on to the up, upscale Sprint Style Villa where, Price explained, "VIPs go to get treated like — VIPS." – CBS News • This clever spot from Sprint alerted us to the dangers of connectile dysfunction, a sendup of commercials for you know what. We see a dragging businessman. “You know the feeling,” the announcer says. “You can’t take care of business the way others do.” The cause – inadequate broadband coverage. -Times Herald Record, NJ • Sprint: This clever spot from Sprint alerted us to the dangers of connectile dysfunction, a sendup of commercials for you know what. We see a dragging businessman. “You know the feeling,” the announcer says. “You can’t take care of business the way others do.” The cause—inadequate broadband coverage. - POP Matters • Sprint: Connectile Dysfunction Synopsis: Spoofing the gamut of pharmaceutical commercials for erectile-dysfunction drugs, a businessman laments that his “connectile dysfunction” – or CD -- makes him unable to perform like other working guys on the go because of his inadequate broadband. When a coy woman slips him some Sprint hardware, he seems able to close the deal. Critics say: The Times calls the parody “dead-on, down to the hushed-voice announcer promising that Sprint Mobile Broadband would help those who ‘can’t take care of business the way others do.’” Unfortunately, it was forgettable enough that Slate didn’t even review it. Our take: Dick jokes are funny. We wonder how soon the catchphrase will make it into a sexual harassment suit at the company. Talk about a joke with a potential payoff. One thing, though: Why don’t our Sprint phones work this well? - Pitch Weekly, Kansas City

12. cont. • A few other ads displayed a similar wry humour. In an ad for Snapple's Green Tea, a man completes a long pilgrimage to find a wise man who will tell him the meaning of a key ingredient in the drink, only to be told it's on the label.And Sprint parodied typical pharmaceutical ads by encouraging men who "can't take care of business the way others do" to cure their "connectile dysfunction" by using their wireless Internet product. - Ottawa Citizen • Tea, a man completes a long pilgrimage to find a wise man who will tell him the meaning of a key ingredient in the drink, only to be told it's on the label. Careerbuilder.com featured two commercials in which office workers were depicted in a jungle setting, with a message that "a better job awaits." And Sprint parodied typical pharmaceutical ads by encouraging men who "can't take care of business the way others do" to cure their "connectile dysfunction" by using their wireless Internet product. -The Halifax Daily News (Nova Scotia)

13. Ad Trades • “First and Goal!” -- Integrated approach, but these advertisers stopped just short of the goal: Coke, Sprint, Nationwide Insurance, HP, Taco Bell, Honda CRV, Toyota Tundra, Schick Quattro, Lionsgate–Pride, GarminGPS, Disney–Meet the Robinsons, E-Trade, FedEx, GM • Ad Age, Bob Garfield: 3 out of 4 Stars for Sprint: Sprint (Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco) • Parodying a Super Bowl ad genre that doesn't appear this year? Is this a $2.5 million boner? Nah. Maybe Cialis and Viagra failed to perform this one time, but their memory lingers like a four-hour erection. So Sprint's funny drug-ad-like take on "Connectile Dysfunction," promoting its longer wireless range, was still plenty potent. Q.E.D.

14. …cont. Television KTTV- Good Day LAat 9:00am- Los Angeles • “Lots of Super Bowl ads for you. First is for Sprint. ‘You know the feeling. You can’t take care of business the way others do. Its called – Sprint. Power Up. What a teaser.” WWOR- My 9 News10:00 pm- New York • “Can you guess what this ad is about? Sprint power up. Advertisers are only releasing early cuts to intrigue viewers. It is part of the plan to get more eye balls for the money.” CLTV- ChicagoLand News at Noon- Chicago • “The Super Bowl, as you know, is one of “the” biggest marketing events for major advertisers who pay really big bucks to get a little face time. Well.. A panel of experts from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business Management- Has named Sprint as the best advertiser during this year’s game.

15. …cont. Associated Press Articles A Win Could Mean Big Money for Manning • Manning has most famously poked fun of himself in an ad for cell-phone company Sprint Nextel Corp., where he dons a fake mustache and toupee to "disguise" himself while rooting for the Colts. • PRESS HITS: Seattle Post Intelligencer, Miami Herald, Houston Chronicle, The Florida Ledger, Mercury News, Oakland Tribune. Amateur Ads Follow Super Bowl Tradition • Sight gags were back, including one from Bud Light early in the game showing a rather unusual tactic for winning at rock-paper-scissors - throwing an actual rock at the head of your opponent. The gag wasn't completely new, however, since last year Sprint Nextel Corp. featured a phone with a "crime deterrent" - which turned out to be throwing the phone at someone's head. • PRESS HITS: MSNBC, Cincinnati Post, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Forbes.com, Miami Herald, The Star-Ledger.

16. On Line Sites YouTube • Sprint spot currenty ranks 27th out of the 51 SuperBowl spots. • It has been given a 3 out of 5 star rating. • It's been viewed 8,371 times. • Out of 22 comments posted so far -- overwhelmingly positive:18 positive, 2 neutral, 2 negative. • Still calculating CD microsite hits. - BuzzMetrics report will include more data on other on-line postings, etc.

17. Blogosphere… Sample Comments Positive Overall for Connectile Dysfunction • Sprint's Super Bowl ad poking fun at Cingular mobile broadband coverage: • I think we all know the feeling for being disconnected in a place where others are happily surfing away.  And now we have a name for it. • Sprint - Sprint ran 1 ad, and it was aimed at business people. • Connectile Dysfunction - After many ads in the past few years about “erectile dysfunction”, some mainstream brands started spoofing ads with their own version of “not measuring up”.  Geico ran a “reptile dysfunction” ad just a few weeks ago, so this one feels a bit too much like a stolen idea…and “connectile” is just a little too far of a stretch, don’t you think? • Connectile Dysfunction -- Sprint Mobile Broadband. A tonally perfect spoof of the recent wave of commercials for tumescence- triggering drugs, Sprint scores with an airport-set piece about broadband envy. "Power Up" -- the product's slogan -- indeed.

18. CD Ad: General Public Reaction Sample of Email Today: -----Original Message-----From: Porter, Margo A CIV [mailto:MAPorter@nmcsd.med.navy.mil] Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 9:30 AMTo: Dunleavy, Kathleen [COM]Subject: Superbowl Advertising Ms. Dunleavy,   Kudos to your publicity camp for a very clever commercial yesterday during the Superbowl.  The term your people coined, "Connectile Dysfunction" was humorous, and also for me strangely appropriate, as I am a nurse in a Urology clinic, and deal with people with the "other type" of dysfunction.  My question is, are you planning to make up any promotional items with this phrase, and if so, is it possible to obtain any of them?   I volunteer at many athletic events, and if you have a Tshirt or cap, I would gladly wear your apparel to "spread your message".  I look forward to your response. Thank you, Margo Porter

19. CD Ad: Employee Reaction As of Monday Post Game: • Zero negative employee comments lodged through the official feedback channels. • This is telling, as employees are always very vocal about advertising, particularly if they find them distasteful. Friday’s Quick Poll on the entirety of the Ad that was previewed for employees only : How do you like our new Super Bowl ad? • I love it! - 19% • I like it a lot - 21% • It's OK - 36% • Not so much … - 24% (4,612 Total Votes) Quick Poll Results Monday Post Game Today’s Quick Poll tapped employee sentiment for the ads in general (not including our own) and of more than 3,200 responses as of 2:30 p.m. CST – most preferred the Blockbuster “mouse” ad, which garnered 18 percent of the vote.