Following a Super Bowl campaign that generated a lot of controversy for an ad that couldn’t offend anyone, the non-profit Focus on the Family purchased airtime during Tim Tebow’s Broncos debut and 11 more Broncos games.
“We saw from our Super Bowl advertising experience that, for a family-help organization like ours, football is a perfect place to advertise,” Focus vice president Gary Schneeberger told the Denver Post last week. “The Broncos are a real family tradition here on the Front Range.”
Unlike the Super Bowl ad, Sunday night’s ad did not feature Tebow. The group says Tebow’s presence on the team isn’t the sole reason they are advertising in Denver. (But it’s not like they are advertising in all 32 NFL cities.)
Tebow’s throwing motion can be debated, but his starpower is undeniable. The Broncos’ TV ratings climbed 33% in the 18-49 demographic over last year’s preseason average.
Usually the ratings fall off when the scrubs come in, but the ratings stayed strong in the fourth quarter and gained overall from the start of game to the end.