You know the US is in a recession when Cash4Gold.com advertises in the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is one of the most watched events on the US calendar. You can compare it with a Curry Cup final where the Blue Bulls are playing and Pretoria has a population of 50 million people. An estimated 100 million US viewers watched the final on Sunday.

For most people the game on the pitch is of little concern — they just want to participate in the event and watch the advertisements. Companies spend millions to advertise during the game’s commercial breaks. I believe that American football is actually played “around” the commercial breaks. Each second of television advertising costs an estimated $100 000 to air, excluding the production costs.

All the big players advertise on this day, including Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser), Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Audi.
Here comes the surprise: Cash4Gold.com will join the ranks of all these companies by forking out $3 million to air a 30-second commercial at Super Bowl XLII. Don’t be alarmed if you’ve never heard of them. They started in 2007 and buy gold from people. They’re in essence an internet-based pawn shop. Now is the time to sell your grandmother’s jewellery.

Here’s how they work:
1. You take your granny’s gold necklace.
2. Place it into one of their envelopes.
3. Post it to them.
4. They send you a cheque.

Can you imagine we try that here in South Africa with our postal service?
This clearly shows that the US is feeling the pinch and some direct response marketers are taking advantage of it.