Chevrolet Yields to BMW in Latest Car Ad Ranking

BMW unseats Chevrolet in the iSpot.tv ranking of the most-viewed automotive commercials – the ads that have racked up the highest number of impressions across national broadcast and cable TV airings.

BMW nudged Chevrolet out of first place with the most-seen ad for the week of Feb. 19-25, a spot for the X3 that snagged just over 423 million impressions. With a theme of exploration and excitement, this commercial promises “you are capable of more.”

No.2 goes to Chevrolet’s enduring “freeway talk” spot that emphasizes the importance of dependability and points out how its models have won multiple J.D. Power awards over the past few years. Chevy also takes fifth place with another repeat ad in which “real people (not actors)” give feedback about the ’18 Traverse and then receive a surprise visit from family members.

In third place is Subaru’s ad that’s all about memories. In it, a father cleans out the old family car and is awash in nostalgia as tokens from his daughter’s childhood surface. The commercial also lets people know they can get interest-free financing on all new ’18 Forester models.

For the second week in a row Lexus holds fourth place with a spot featuring the LS500 that’s integrated with Marvel’s “Black Panther” movie. This commercial also had the best iSpot Attention Index (136) in our ranking, getting 36% 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. BMW: Glitch

423,163,325 Impressions, 92.42 Attention Score, 117 Attention Index, $5,277,795 Est. TV Spend

2. Chevrolet: Freeway Talk

330,847,950 Impressions, 78.80 Attention Score, 43 Attention Index, $22,917,206 Est. TV Spend

3. Subaru: Making Memories

297,814,411 Impressions, 93.99 Attention Score, 134 Attention Index, $3,217,510 Est. TV Spend

4. Lexus: Marvel Studios Black Panther

287,635,679 Impressions, 94.14 Attention Score, 136 Attention Index, $5,780,887 Est. TV Spend

5. Chevrolet: Family Reunion

279,548,321 Impressions, 83.54 Attention Score, 55 Attention Index, $19,443,190 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.