January 30, 2002

White House Airing Super Bowl Ads

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 7:17 p.m. ET WASHINGTON

(AP) -- The White House is airing two commercials during the Super Bowl warning that buying illegal drugs could finance international terrorists.

An administration official said Wednesday that British director Tony Kaye made the 30-second spots, which will debut during the game Sunday -- television's biggest and most expensive attraction of the year. Some 130 million viewers are expected to watch at least part of the NFL championship game.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy is coordinating the effort, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Neither President Bush nor any top administration officials appear in the ads, which were shot in New York this month, the aide said. The message of the spots was that the sale of illicit drugs can contribute to funding terrorism.

Several White House officials declined to comment on the campaign. It wasn't clear who would star in them, or what the budget was.

AdAge.com, which first reported the ads Wednesday, said the government will probably pay more than $1.6 million to air each spot, which it said would be the biggest single-event government advertising purchase in U.S. history.

Administration officials said they could not confirm the figure, and a spokeswoman for Fox, which is airing the Sunday's game between the New England Patriots and the St. Louis Rams, said she did not know.

Jon Nesvig, head of ad sales for Fox Broadcasting, said earlier that the average price in the game was "a little south of $2 million.''