Super Bowl ads could benefit from Mad Men effect

This photo from "Mad Men's" website shows Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm at left, and Bert Cooper, played by Robert Morse.

Globe Staff

Sorry, mom, but your 18- to 34-year-old kids would rather watch Super Bowl ads than talk to you or praise your buffalo wings during the big-game party you worked so hard on to put together --- and you can partly blame it on "Mad Men," the AMC TV show about the golden age of advertising.

Those are some conclusions of a new survey on Super Bowl viewing habits from Venables Bell & Partners, a San Francisco advertising agency.

"Young adults said they are looking forward to watching the ads more than spending time with their friends and family, the half-time show, and the national anthem, in that order," said Venables Bell & Partners, which claims that the popularity of "Mad Men" has heightened interest in ads.

In general, the 18-to-34-year-old demographic has been driving ad men mad and provoking them into drinking too many of Don Draper's Old-Fashioneds. (Draper is the name of a lead character in "Mad Men.) Many young persons would rather play Internet games and amuse themselves on Facebook than watch TV. And when they do watch TV shows, they'll often use digital video recorders to skip through ads.

But Venables Bell & Partners said its survey found that the 64 percent of young adults that would opt to watch the game with commercials versus commercial-free, and that 25 percent of that group would even pay a $.99 subscription fee to watch the ads during the game.

An earlier Super Bowl report from the agency noted that people, and particularly young adults, are expected to post something on Facebook about the game or Super Bowl ads or send a text message about an ad to some of their friends.

“Call it the ‘Mad Men’ effect, but young Americans’ intrigue with Super Bowl advertising seems to be at a steady increase, which is a great sign for marketers who’ve made the investment,” Lucy Farey-Jones, partner and head of strategy at Venables Bell & Partners said in a statement. “Take that passion – combined with their habit of multi-tasking on multiple technology platforms – and you get a consumer who is ready and willing to engage.”