Viewers of Super Bowl LVIII over the weekend were treated to, among other things, a rare comedic turn from the increasingly mysterious Beyoncé, who paired up with Tony Hale for a gag-filled commercial for the Verizon 5G network. The ad also served as a de facto commercial for the artist’s own upcoming album, but that doesn’t mean Beyoncé worked for free. On the contrary, she earned a reported $30 million for her role in the 45-second commercial.
That alleged $30 million figure comes from celebrity gossip site “Popbitch,” which also claimed the total shooting budget for the commercial, minus Beyoncé’s fee, was $1 million. Throw in another $7 million to buy the advertising slot itself, and you’re looking at a total budget of around $38 million if the rumors of Beyoncé’s $30 million paycheck are accurate.
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Tim Curtis, a top talent agent with WME, which represents more than 30 of the celebrities we saw during Super Bowl ad breaks this year, told The Telegraph that a “mid-range star” can take home between $1 million and $3 million for a typical Super Bowl spot. In comparison, top-tier names like Beyoncé can more likely expect about $10 million. It has been confirmed that Ben Affleck earned $10 million for last year’s Dunkin Donuts Super Bowl ad, and he absolutely deserved another $10 million for this year’s smash hit “Dunkin Kings” slot.
And even by the possibly over-inflated standards of huge Super Bowl commercial advertising, Beyoncé scored big-time with the Verizon ad, even before you count all the free publicity she got for her upcoming album.
Is all this money worth it for the brands actually spending it? Dunkin’ President Scott Murphy told Entrepreneur magazine that the brand’s blockbuster Ben Affleck Super Bowl ad last year was a bargain compared to the response it received:
“We ran it once and got 7 billion media impressions, and it kind of kickstarted the year…The brand is just in the conversation. It just really feels in the fabric of things now.”
According to Murphy, the Monday after last year’s big game was the biggest sales day for donuts in Dunkin’ history, a feat that the company is undoubtedly hoping to replicate by bringing Affleck back with a whole bunch of other name brand stars for this year’s Super Bowl commercial.