Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com. And now it is time for the Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback brought to by Aflac, ask about it at work. And for this mornings Flashback we are going to roll back a couple of weeks to a BusinessMakers Overtime segment with Esther Steinfeld and Katie Laird were talking about the Super Bowl. We enter the discuss where Esther was talking about how big it is.

Esther: Did you know that nearly 100 million people watch the Superbowl every year? In fact, no less than 80 million have watched it in the last 20 years.

Katie: No kidding?

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: And is this actually the whole way through or can they tell who mutes it during the game and then sticks around to watch the commercials?

Esther: The commercials? You know, I don't know if they've got statistics on that but they're - I, you know if all people are watching is the commercials, then advertisers are happy.

Katie: Okay. Right, hey. (Laughter)

Esther: You know? So people forget, also, that it's not just the ads that are big business, it's the merchandising and then the magazines that get sold. All those commemorative merchandise, like the Sports Illustrated, the books that come out talking about the game and the newspapers the next day. People buy like several copies and they save them.

Katie: That's right.

Esther: You know, food, beer, restaurants and bars, kind of everyone benefitting from this big, gigantic -

Katie: It's huge.

Esther: - game.

Katie: And not -

Esther: It's no - it's gigantic.

Katie: - not to mention the city that actually gets to host it. I mean, like that is just crazy. I remember - when was it that Houston had the Superbowl here?

Esther: Ah, 2004.

Katie: Okay. I mean that was just a heck of an insane time. (Laughter)

Esther: Yes it was.

Katie: There were so many Brad Pitt sightings, it was awesome!

(Laughter)

Esther: And you know what else is a major industry? Let's not forget about the gambling.

Katie: The gambling. Yes, yes.

Esther: Guess how much money was spent betting on the Superbowl last year?

Katie: How much?

Esther: Ten billion dollars.

Katie: Oh!

(Laughter)

Esther: Ten billion!

Katie: That's intense.

Esther: Not million. Ten billion dollars.

Katie: With a B. With a B. (Laughter)

Esther: That's insane. You people are crazy. Stop gambling. Oh my gosh.

Katie: That's right. Start investing in your local entrepreneurs. Come on. (Laughter)

Esther: Seriously. Actually, I love the Superbowl because of all the gimmicks, all the awesome stuff that goes on. Remember there was that guy who tried to raise money from all these corporate companies to buy a 30 second spot.

Katie: That's right.

Esther: To propose to his girlfriend?

Katie: That's right! Yes. Yeah.

Esther: That was a coup- I think 2007 is when that was, that didn't actually end up happening.

Katie: Aww.

Esther: He couldn't raise the money. I think he was very disappointed.

Katie: Okay. Yeah.

Esther: But -

Katie: Well I guess that's what YouTube is for.

Esther: So what are your favorite Superbowl commercials? Do you have any favorites?

Katie: This may be just totally cliché but I still love the Budweiser frogs.

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: I mean that is -

Esther: That's a classic.

Katie: Like - yeah. Just hands down absolutely my favorite. Absolutely.

Esther: That's a great one.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: You know, actually I always loved the CareerBuilder commercials. I've always loved their commercials. They have the people fighting in the forest. The guy's wearing like a binder on his head.

Katie: That is right.

Esther: Those are great commercials but actually they had - Monster also has a great commercial that they did. This was - remember? It was a really big deal when Monster had their first Superbowl commercial 'cause they were this new company, very small, spending a ton of money on advertising.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: And one of their commercials was just phenomenal. They featured these little kids talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up and they were saying, "I wanna be a brown-noser."

Katie: Oh, I remember! (Laughter)

Esther: And it was like, "I wanna be forced into early retirement."

Katie: That's right. "I wanna climb the corporate ladder and fall and hit the glass ceiling." (Laughter)

Esther: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Very cute. "I wanna claw my way up to middle management." And that's one of my favorites. It's kind of, you know, it's definitely up there. And my - really my all-time favorite is the Larry Bird, Michael Jordan commercial.

Katie: Which one is that? I don't remember.

Esther: Where they play a game of Horse and the winner gets a Big Mac and some fries and it gave us this classic phrase. "Over the second rafter, off the floor, nothin' but net."

Katie: That's awesome.

Esther: So anytime you hear someone saying "Nothin' but net," it's from that Superbowl commercial.

Katie: No kidding?

Esther: Yeah.

Katie: Okay.

Esther: That's where it comes from.

Katie: I thought this was like a standard basketball -

Esther: Well it is but that's kind of what re-popularized it.

Katie: Okay. That's what got it hot. (Laughter)

Esther: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Do you have any all-time worst Superbowl commercials that you just absolutely hate? No? Lemme tell you about some of mine.

Katie: I don't. (Laughter)

Esther: I'll tell you, I'll tell you this one. You might remember this, you might not.

Katie: Okay.

Esther: There's a commercial - it was for Just For Feet, a company that no longer exists, okay? It was called Kenya Mission. That was the name of the commercial. It featured a Kenyan runner being drugged by a group of white mercenaries in a Humvee and forced to wear running shoes. He was running alongside the Humvee barefoot because a lot of Kenyan runners run barefoot.

Katie: Yeah.

Esther: And the men in the Humvee grab him, they drug him, and then they force running shoes on his feet. So the ad was basically banned by every possible source -

Katie: Oh my gosh!

Esther: - you know, called imperialist, racist, every -ist you could ever imagine.

Katie: Seriously!

Esther: Well hopefully, this year's gonna bring us some really awesome Superbowl commercials. I cannot wait.

Katie: I'm very excited.

Esther: I loved - I love football. I love to watch the game but I also love the commercials.

Katie: and I love the food and the commercials and I'll stand the football. So you know - (Laughter) maybe you can call me on your cell phone, explain what's happening on the field to me. Like -

Esther: Like what's a forward pass?

Katie: (Laughter)

Esther: That's called a touchdown.

Katie: It - they - no home runs? What's going on? I - (Laughter) I am a pathetic creature.

Esther: No, no. Don't you worry. The commercials are gonna entertain you severely.

Russ: And that wraps up this Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback brought to you by Aflac, ask about it at work. Stay tuned in for our Featured Guest segment were we do one of our DealMakers series where Blair Garrou, venture capitalist with DFJ Mercury, reviews FUZZYLUKE with founder and CEO Michael Gile. This is the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at thebusinessmakers.com.