MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- The most effective ads of the Super Bowl were Doritos' "Sling Baby" ad and M&M's "Just My Shell" ad, said Ace Metrix, an authority in TV advertising effectiveness, when it revealed the official rankings of the most effective and least effective ads from Super Bowl XLVI. Both tied for the honor with an Ace Score of 671.
Coca-Cola was the brand winner this Super Bowl, airing three of the top 10 most effective Super Bowl ads.
"Coca-Cola's polar bear ads were quite effective with consumers--two ranked within the top five overall ads, trumping Pepsi's star-studded 'King's Court' ad, which was quite effective in its own right," said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix.
Chrysler's "It's Halftime America" ad starring Clint Eastwood was the most effective automotive ad, achieving an Ace Score of 633 and ranking 6th on the overall list. The average Ace Score for this year's Super Bowl ads was 552, up slightly from 2011's 549. While the automotive category provided the largest number of ads, soda and snacks ads once again dominated the top scoring list with seven of the top 10 ads.
This year saw the continued trend in storytelling, a trend towards longer, more emotive spots. And 30% of this year's Super Bowl spots were 60 seconds or longer vs. 17% in 2010. The trend continues as evidenced by the longer form ads showing strong performance.
It was also a year of more blatant sexual themes with 13% of the ads having this attribute vs. 2% in 2011. Interestingly, none of the seductive ads made the top 10 list and most were in the bottom third of Super Bowl ads.
Most Effective Super Bowl Ads 2012
"The Super Bowl has a diverse set of brands and advertising objectives on the world's largest stage. The winners on the Ace Metrix list scored exceptionally well with consumers on criteria that is far beyond how likeable an ad is," said Daboll. "For example, the two top ads from M&M's and Doritos used humor to achieve high likeability and attention scores, as well as top scores in relevance and desire. They also had broad demographic appeal, a key consideration for an audience as large and diverse as the Super Bowl."
1. M&Ms, Just My Shell (Score: 671).
1. Doritos, Sling Baby (671).
3. Coca-Cola, The Catch (654).
4. Doritos, Man's Best Friend (645).
5. Coca-Cola, Superstitions (640).
6. Chrysler, It's Halftime in America (633)
7. Honda, Matthew's Day Off (630).
8. Skechers, Go Run Mr. Quiggly (629).
9. Pepsi King's Court (628).
10. Coca-Cola, Argh (600).
10. GE, Building Something Big in Louisville (600).
Ace Score is the measure of ad creative effectiveness based on viewer reaction to national TV ads. Respondents are randomly selected and representative of the U.S. TV viewing audience. The results are presented on a scale of 0-950, which represents scoring on creative attributes. The measure of ad effectiveness is a more robust measure than mere popularity and takes into account such criteria as an ad's watchability, likeability, relevance, information, persuasiveness, ability to alter opinion and ability to create desire.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Ace Metrix is the industry authority in measuring and understanding the impact of advertising creative.
In a separate announcement, Doritos said that it awarded its second $1 million bonus prize in less than a week when it was announced that the Doritos consumer-generated Super Bowl ad "Sling Baby," created by Kevin T. Willson, ranked No. 1 in the USA Today Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter.
Doritos, one of the flagship brands from PepsiCo's Plano, Texas-based Frito-Lay division, also awarded a $1 million bonus prize earlier this week to Jonathan Friedman creator of "Man's Best Friend," which took the top spot in the traditional USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter rankings.
The combined $2 million in prizes represents the largest bonus payout by the Doritos brand in the six-year history of the Crash the Super Bowl program.
As winners of the contest, the company also awarded Willson and Friedman a guaranteed opportunity to work on a future Doritos project with Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone that make up The Lonely Island.
The two Doritos ads that aired Sunday were among five finalists selected by the Doritos brand from more than 6,100 total submissions, the most ever in a single contest year. Consumer votes determined one of the winners, while Doritos brand executives selected the other.
All five contest finalists received $25,000 and a trip to attend Super Bowl XLVI. Bonus cash prizes were based on how each winning ad ranked in the traditional USA Today Ad Meter, as well as the USA Today Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter.
Since Crash the Super Bowl began in 2007, consumer-created Doritos ads have consistently ranked within the top-five spots of the traditional USA Today Ad Meter, it said, and three of the last four years they have scored the No. 1 ranking. This includes two No. 1 rankings in this year's competition--one in the traditional USA Today Ad Meter; the other in the inaugural USA Today Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter.
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