• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, February 4, 2013

Not wanting to shortchange an advertiser, CBS gave Anheuser-Busch what amounted to a free spot in Sunday’s Super Bowl. A Bud Light ad aired as CBS went to break after the power went out in part of the Superdome. The same spot then ran again after the game resumed play after a lengthy delay. 

The bonus exposure is also likely the case for Subway and the NFL, whose spots also ran twice.

“It was unplanned and A-B did not purchase the extra spot,” a company representative wrote in an email. “The first time it aired it was during the blackout stoppage and CBS wanted to make sure the advertisers/advertisements thant ran in that break ran in game action.”

Subway did not immediately provide comment. CBS said that even with the 35-minute game delay, it “honored” all its ad commitments.

The game averaged about 108 million viewers.

Viewers were likely confused as CBS went to the break with the Bud Light, Subway and NFL ads just after the lights had gone out. Having lost some audio, CBS only showed some wide shots of the darkened stadium.