HQ Trivia Got Its Surprise Super Bowl Ad for Free
Are 30-Second Super Bowl Ads Worth the Money?
HQ Trivia, the fast-growing and controversial interactive game-show app, edged further into the mainstream on Sunday, airing a commercial on NBC just three minutes before the Super Bowl broadcast began. The spot, in keeping with the online game’s off-kilter aesthetic, featured a 12-second clip of a woman screaming in excitement followed by a screen showing the app’s logo. The source: a video, posted on Twitter last month, featuring Lauren May, a young woman who won $11.30 playing the trivia game and celebrated with disproportionate gusto.
Though HQ’s parent company, New York-based startup Intermedia Labs Inc., has already raised $8 million and is in negotiations to raise additional capital at a valuation of about $100 million, the company didn’t dip into its cash reserves to pay for the ad. Super Bowl commercials have been going for around $5 million this year for 30 seconds, but this one cost HQ nothing at all. NBC gave the spot to Intermedia for free.