Top TV car ads to be honored at Detroit auto show
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Volkswagen's Super Bowl commercial has garnered the most YouTube views this year compared to other car commercials. |
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Capitalizing on the popularity of car commercials, the advertising competition known as the One Show will make an appearance during the Detroit auto show next month to reveal its picks for the 10 greatest car commercials of the last 25 years.
A panel of more than 100 advertising and journalism professionals will judge 60 entries, and the top 10 will be announced on Jan. 15 during the press preview days for the Detroit auto show. The One Show also will announce a people's choice award for the car commercial most loved by the public. Go to its website to cast your vote.
If thinking back over the past 25 years sounds a bit daunting, here's a list of the 10 most-watched-on-the-Internet car commercials of 2012 -- most which debuted during the 2012 Super Bowl broadcast -- provided by Visual Measures.
One day your dog discovers he's let himself go. He can no longer fit through his doggy-door en route to doing what all dogs do best -- chase cars! With steadfast determination he gets himself back in shape so he can slip easily outside to dart after a bright red Volkswagen Beetle. Wait for the "Star Wars" redux at the end.
A more mature Matthew Broderick revisits his '80s hit "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and decides to buck his bland routine for a day of adventure. After telling his agent he is too sick to come in, Broderick and his Honda CR-V stop at a local fair, take a tranquil drive along the coast and visit a museum for some culture before getting trapped within a parade that's being broadcast on TV.
Before his now famous Republican National Convention appearance, Clint Eastwood stirred up a few political debates in this dramatic ad recounting the despair Detroit's manufacturers and citizens have experienced in recent years. The dark commercial ends on a positive note showing people back to work and promising that better days are ahead as the auto industry rebounds.
After learning he is second in line to receive the new Acura NSX, Comedian Jerry Seinfeld makes numerous attempts to bribe the guy who actually holds the first-place spot. Just when Seinfeld has nearly won him over, Jay Leno drops by with a better offer.
Running late to the vampire party, an Audi S7 driver pulls up with a fresh case of blood to share. Unfortunately, the bright light of the LED headlights is ready to fry everyone in attendance.
When the sandman accidentally dumps too much dream dust onto the sleeping main character, his dreams bolt into high gear. Suddenly he is racing a new Kia Optima around a track during a Mötley Crüe concert. In the end he heroically "rescues" his wife from a handsome man on a white horse in the ultimate happy ending.
A Chevrolet Silverado surfaces from beneath the rubble following the "2012 Apocalypse" predicted by the Mayan calendar. As the driver and his dog make their way through city streets piled with debris he discovers more survivors, all of whom also had a sturdy Chevrolet Silverado by their side. Too bad their buddy drove a Ford.
The new Toyota Camry is so amazing it inspired Toyota to continue re-inventing other products. After being introduced to a series of outlandish new and improved items, including rain that melts fat and curtains made of pizza.
In order to send the message that the Mercedes-Benz F-cell vehicle would be invisible to the earth by producing zero emissions, Mercedes actually made the car disappear. By covering the car with LED light panels and attaching the LED panels to cameras that reflect the car's current surroundings via the LED panels, Mercedes-Benz succeeded in making a car "invisible."
By speeding up and stopping repeatedly in quick succession in the Hyundai Genesis Coupe R-spec, a young business professional is able to resuscitate his passenger -- an older business mentor -- using the pressure provided by the seatbelt. The closing line of the commercial? "It'll get your pulse going."
