For many small business owners, it may be akin to winning the lottery. Maybe even bigger.
Start-up toymaker GoldieBlox—which creates games that expose girls to engineering and got its start from a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign in 2012—has won a free 30-second commercial worth millions during Sunday's Super Bowl.
The spot—usually within the reach of larger, more established brands—is believed to be the first small-business commercial to air during the big game, according to the contest's sponsor Intuit QuickBooks.
The ad, also produced for GoldieBlox for free, is scheduled to air during the third quarter. Fox is broadcasting the game, and is earning $4 million to $4.1 million for an average 30-second spot—slightly ahead of last year's $4 million rate.
"We still can't believe we won and will appear alongside some of the biggest brands in the world," said Debbie Sterling, chief executive officer and founder of GoldieBlox.
"When we first heard about the program, we immediately knew this was a game-changing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any small business," Sterling said in a statement.
GoldieBlox more recently entered a copyright infringement fight with hip-hop group the Beastie Boys for using their '80s track "Girls" in a GoldieBlox YouTube video. The clip attracted millions of views.