Ad meter
Kia earned the top spot on the USA Today Ad Meter, making it the second consecutive year that an automaker has done so.
Last year, Hyundai’s “First Date” spot starring actor/comedian Kevin Hart took the crown.
Automakers dominated the Ad Meter’s top 10, accounting for five spots.
Honda’s celebrity-filled “Yearbooks” ad for the 2017 redesigned CR-V crossover finished in second place. The spot brought a yearbook to life as celebs such as Steve Carell and Magic Johnson spoke of the importance of pursuing dreams, which aligned with Honda’s “Power of Dreams” tagline.
The spot also helped generate a 35 percent increase for the CR-V on Cars.com on Sunday.
Audi rounded out the top three with “Daughter,” which put a spotlight on gender pay equality. The spot played well among viewers on the research side as well as the featured Audi S5 saw a 1,391 percent traffic boost despite only being in the ad for a few seconds.
“Audi historically has used the big game as a platform to tell a compelling story and this year is no different,” Loren Angelo, vice president of marketing for Audi of America, said in an emailed statement to Automotive News. “With “Daughter” we are continuing to push the envelope to call attention to what drives us. As a business built on bold innovation, progress underpins the brand’s culture.”
The other top 10 finishers were Buick in seventh place and Ford in ninth.