Audi Wins Big During Super Bowl LI

Audi capitalized on an enthralled audience during Sunday’s Super Bowl to top the weekly Most Engaging Auto Ads rankings, powered for WardsAuto by iSpot.tv.

It’s no surprise that ads that ran during the National Football League’s championship game on Fox dominate this week’s top-five chart.

Audi’s first-place spot for the S5 serves up topical commentary on gender equality and equal pay. In the ad, a father watches his daughter compete against boys in a soapbox derby while pondering how to tell her that in life, men may be “worth more” than women.

As the girl wins the race, the spot ends on a positive note with the dad ruminating that maybe in the future he’ll be able to tell her something different. Audi closes the commercial stating it’s committed to equal pay for equal work.

The tactic of aligning with a relevant, real-life issue worked well, as the ad captured almost a third (28.4%) of the auto industry’s share of voice and already has earned 7 million online views.

Buick took a different approach to snag second place with its Super Bowl spot featuring Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. The brand used silly humor to depict a pee-wee football game where one player and coach are not who they seem – just like the new Buicks that, to some, are surprisingly attractive.

Hyundai’s third-place commercial pulled on viewer heartstrings while also accomplishing an impressive advertising feat. In it, the brand shows how, using special equipment and 360-degree video cameras, Hyundai helped connect U.S. service members deployed in Poland with their families back home to have a shared experience: watching Super Bowl LI.

The ad was produced in real-time and ran just after the game ended. Notably, the focus was entirely on the soldiers and their families; Hyundai cars were absent.

It’s back to humor for the No.4 spot, another Subaru “Dog Tested” commercial. This time a family of four canines has trouble with their phone’s voice commands while on a drive.

And the comedy continues with the fifth-place ad, with a slapstick commercial from Kia featuring actress Melissa McCarthy and the song “I Need a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler. In it, McCarthy is the ultimate environmental hero, despite finding herself in multiple precarious situations. Luckily her Kia Niro makes it easy to at least drive like an “eco warrior.”

iSpot.tv, the real-time TV ad measurement company with attention analytics from 10 million smart TV screens, 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. Audi: Daughter

28.36% Digital Share of Voice, 7M Earned Online Views

2. Buick: Not So Pee Wee Football

16.31% Digital Share of Voice, 3M Earned Online Views

3. Hyundai: A Better Super Bowl

10.97% Digital Share of Voice, 4M Earned Online Views

4. Subaru: Dog Tested: Phone Navigation

7.51% Digital Share of Voice, 22K Earned Online Views

5. Kia: Hero’s Journey

6.46% Digital Share of Voice, 2M Earned Online Views