Doritos, A-B Earn Top Two Spots In USA Today's Ad Meter Results

The winner of the USA Today/Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter was a spot "about a crafty grandma who slung a sling-wearing baby across the yard to snatch a bag of Doritos,” according to Horovitz, Petrecca & Strauss of USA TODAY. Placing a close second in the Ad Meter results “was Anheuser-Busch’s beer-fetching dog, Weego.” Two carmakers “tied for third: Kia, whose ad featured a guy with ultraracy dreams that include supermodel Adriana Lima; and Chrysler, which turned actor Clint Eastwood into almost as big a Super Bowl presence” as Giants QB Eli Manning. The results resemble “but do not mirror those of Sunday’s evening’s focus group panel” of 268 adults. That competition was won “by the other Doritos spot about a savvy, cat-killing dog that uses Doritos to bribe its owner into silence about its dastardly deed.” Doritos' dog ad “ranked six in the online voting” for the Ad Meter (USA TODAY, 2/8). USA Today Senior VP/Marketing Sandra Micek said that the panels for the Ad Meter focus groups “will continue, providing ‘an immediate litmus test of what’s registering with viewers’ of the Super Bowl.” She added that the Facebook voting “will ‘broaden our reach,’ creating ‘the nice combination of the panels and what’s happening in the broader conversation.’” Facebook VP/Global Media Solutions Tom Arrix said that the venture with USA Today is “the first time that Facebook has offered its users a chance to vote on the merits of Super Bowl spots." Arrix said, “We’re seeing the Super Bowl, formerly a one-day experience, evolving into more of a campaign.” He added that sponsors are “seeking attention before, during and after the game” (N.Y. TIMES, 2/8).

TOP FIVE	DESCRIPTION	SCORE
Doritos	Sling Baby	4.33
Bud Light	Weego	4.25
Chrysler	It's Halftime in America	4.23
Kia	A Dream Car. For Real Life.	4.23
M&M's	Just My Shell	4.22
BOTTOM FIVE	DESCRIPTION	SCORE
Bud Light Platinum	Factory	2.20
GoDaddy.com	Body Paint	2.16
Lexus GS	Super Bowl 2012	2.16
Bud Light Platinum	Work	2.12
GoDaddy.com	The Cloud	2.04

INTERNET CHATTER: READWRITEWEB.com’s Scott Fulton III wrote under the header “Analytics From ‘Most Social Super Bowl’ Reveals Chat Wasn’t About Football.” Fulton looked at social media during the game and wrote it is “astonishing to see that TV commercials make up some 42% of all Super Bowl-related online chatter” (READWRITEWEB.com, 2/6). Boston-based social analytics firm Bluefin VP/Marketing Tom Thai said, “What’s different in 2012 is NBC can say to its advertisers, ‘We’ll sell you the eyeballs, but we’ll also sell you social engagement’” (BOSTON HERALD, 2/8).

CAR ADS POPULAR ON YOUTUBE: In Detroit, David Shepardson notes Chrysler’s Eastwood commercial “was viewed more than 5 million times on YouTube in less than 48 hours after its posting by the automaker.” An ad for the Fiat 500 Abarth, titled "Seduction," has been seen “5.5 million times on YouTube.” The GM spot “implying that a Ford pickup owner couldn't survive a Mayan apocalypse -- while Chevy Silverado owners could -- has been seen at least 5.8 million times.” GM said that its 30-second spot for the '13 Cadillac ATS “that aired at 9:37 p.m. EST, during a timeout in the fourth quarter, was the single most watched commercial in U.S. television history.” Kantar Media found the spot “had the highest rating of any of the spots that aired.” That ad, however, has “received only about 600,000 hits on YouTube.” But Shepardson wrote the “biggest Super Bowl auto traffic online this year appears to be for Honda Motor Co.'s Acura ad that featured comedians Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno battling over who would get the first NSX.” The spot had “more than 16.5 million views.” Honda's CRV ad featuring actor Matthew Broderick “has been seen at least 13.5 million times on YouTube” (DETROIT NEWS, 2/8).