Chevrolet Employees Star in Most-Watched Car Ad

Chevrolet keeps it real and tops the latest iSpot.tv ranking of most-watched automotive commercials.

Each week WardsAuto teams with iSpot.tv to rank the most-viewed automotive commercials – the ads that have racked up the highest number of impressions across national broadcast and cable TV airings.

Chevy has a new take on its signature theme of using “real people (not actors),” but this time it’s with real Chevy employees. The ad emphasizes the importance of family, and relates how, in the spirit of the holidays, all customers can get the Chevy employee discount on certain models.

Following Chevy in the ranking for Nov. 27 through Dec. 3 is Volkswagen, rising from fourth to second place with its commercial that emphasizes that customers can take advantage of no down payment, no deposit, no first-month lease payment and nothing due at signing for select VW models.

Third place goes to Kia, which promotes a sales event for the ’17 Soul Base, while Mazda comes in at No. 4 with another spot celebrating the season. This ad, narrated by Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame, urges people to treat themselves with a special lease offer for the ’18 Mazda CX-9 Sport FWD.

Lincoln rounds out the chart with a one-minute cinematic commercial in which a little girl gets her wishes fulfilled. This spot has the best iSpot Attention Index (146) in our ranking, getting 46% fewer interruptions than the average auto ad (interruptions include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV).

iSpot.tv is a real-time TV ad measurement company with attention and conversion analytics from more than 7 million smart TVs.

Data provided by

1. Chevrolet: Chevy Employee Discount for Everyone: Happy Holidays

280,898,461 Impressions, 86.60 Attention Score, 132 Attention Index, $5,566,156 Est. TV Spend

2. Volkswagen: Sign The Drive Event: See Zero in a Whole New Way

240,056,316 Impressions, 75.22 Attention Score, 79 Attention Index, $5,739,799 Est. TV Spend

3. Kia: Light Up the Holidays Sales Event: Light Show

211,482,846 Impressions, 75.02 Attention Score, 78 Attention Index, $2,620,050 Est. TV Spend

4. Mazda: Celebrate the Season Event: Gifts

206,773,548 Impressions, 69.97 Attention Score, 65 Attention Index, $3,316,027 Est. TV Spend

5. Lincoln Motor Company: Wish List Sales Event: Olivia's Wish List

201,251,329 Impressions, 89.43 Attention Score, 146 Attention Index, $4,773,792 Est. TV Spend

TV Impressions - Total TV ad impressions delivered for the brand or spot.
Attention Score - Measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.
Attention Index - Represents the Attention of a specific creative or program placement vs the average. The average is represented by a score of 100, and the total index range is from 0 through 200. For example, an attention index of 125 means that there are 25% fewer interrupted ad plays compared to the average.
Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.