James Franco, Plugging Scion, Drives Onto Top Ads List

Two versions of James Franco – Hollywood actor and experimental artist, both driving Scions – make their way onto the weekly Most Engaging Auto Ads list, powered for WardsAuto by iSpot.tv.

The two Francos make an impressive debut in second place in the ranking, topped only by a resurgent Mazda CX-3 spot, “Driving Matters: Garage,” narrated by “Breaking Bad” star Aaron Paul. “James Franco and James Franco” garners an 11.9% share-of-voice rating among all automotive ads, vs. 18.9% for “Driving Matters: Garage.”

Rounding out the list are a returning Kia spot, “Participation,” in third place; followed by another returning Mazda spot, “A Driver’s Life: Driving Matters;” and “Recently Liberated Car Dealership Tube Man,” another Scion ad.

Overall, automakers spent an estimated $159.8 million on TV ads for the week through Sunday. ESPN, CBS and NBC, in that order, led the way in drawing automotive ad dollars. NFL football was the most popular choice for the week, with nearly $38 million spent by automakers among the various games.

iSpot.tv tracks TV ads in real-time and allows customers to monitor social actions, search activity and online video views associated with TV spots across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Bing and Yahoo!.

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1. 2016 Mazda CX-3 TV Spot, 'Driving Matters: Garage'

18.89% Digital Share of Voice, 994k Earned Online Views

2. Scion TV Spot, 'James Franco and James Franco'

11.88% Digital Share of Voice, 708k Earned Online Views

3. 2016 Kia Sorento TV Spot, 'Participation'

8.74% Digital Share of Voice, 88k Earned Online Views

4. 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata TV Spot, 'A Driver's Life: Driving Matters'

5.51% Digital Share of Voice, 295k Earned Online Views

5. Scion iA TV Spot, 'Recently Liberated Car Dealership Tube Man'

5.29% Digital Share of Voice, 245k Earned Online Views