Ram Trucks Owns Latest Most-Seen Auto TV Ad

All of the top five automaker ads, as ranked by iSpot.tv’s national TV ad impressions for Dec. 23-29, harnessed football to reach audiences – although to varying extents, as detailed below. Additionally, four of the five spots touted sales events; Buick’s second-place commercial was the outlier. 

With 202.8 million national TV ad impressions, Ram Trucks takes first place with a spot advertising its Wrap Up the Year sales event, offering special deals on most 2024 Ram 1500 trucks. NFL games delivered nearly 15% of the ad’s total reach, followed by Forensic Files (5% of its total impressions) and First Take (2%). According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, this commercial scored above the automotive average for likeability, relevance and attention. 

Instead of touting a sales event, Buick’s second-place spot enumerates the Enclave’s features that “make exceptional the standard,” including hands-free driver-assistance technology, QuietTuning audio and expansive interior space. Of the five commercials on the chart, this one leaned into football the most: College football games generated 39% of its total 199.6 million national TV ad impressions, while the NFL provided another 6%. Additional programs that led for impression delivery included NCIS (2%), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2%) and Chicago P.D. (2%). 

In the No.3 spot from Volkswagen, a cute little girl practices her signature at an auto dealership – but alas, since she doesn’t have a driver’s license, it’s up to her dad to sign on the dotted line for their new car. The father and daughter duo resonated with audiences, with 27% of iSpot survey respondents citing the characters as the “single best thing” about the ad. This commercial received 188.1 million national TV ad impressions, with reach coming from a variety of genres: College football was tops, delivering nearly 7% of the spot’s total impressions, while Ghosts, 60 Minutes, Frozen (the movie) and A Christmas Story (the movie) each accounted for about 2% of impressions. 

Subaru highlights its commitment to helping charities including the ASPCA in the fourth-place spot, which had 184.7 million national TV ad impressions. This was the only commercial in the ranking that didn’t have football as its No.1 driver of reach: Good Morning America led with 14% of its total impressions, followed by Today (7%) and college football (3%). According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, this spot had a Persuasion score 14% above the recent automaker norm. 

Sports-related programming was a key driver of reach for Hyundai’s fifth-place ad, which promotes its winter Getaway Sales Event. NFL games generated nearly 19% of the spot’s total 140.7 million impressions, followed by the NBA (14%), Football Night in America (10%) and college football games (9%). According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, this commercial had an 87% brand match (the percentage of survey respondents who remembered it was a Hyundai ad after watching it), above the recent automaker industry norm of 79%.

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1. Ram Trucks: The Calling: Football

Impressions: 202,818,585       

Interruption Rate: 2.96%

Attention Index: 122

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $5,024,672

2. Buick: Experience Effortless Driving 

Impressions: 199,588,184

Interruption Rate: 1.65%

Attention Index: 109

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $1,887,922

3. Volkswagen: More Squiggly 

Impressions: 188,066,797   

Interruption Rate: 3.10%

Attention Index: 104

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $2,409,332

4. Subaru: Support the ASPCA

Impressions: 184,724,873     

Interruption Rate: 2.99%

Attention Index: 106

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $2,810,860

5. Hyundai: The Perfect Time

Impressions: 140,672,364  

Interruption Rate: 3.29%

Attention Index: 122

Est. National TV Ad Spend: $5,722,419

Data provided by iSpot.tv, The New Standard for TV Ad Measurement.

Chart positions and other data may be updated in iSpot’s database as additional airings information becomes available. 

TV Impressions - Total TV ad impressions delivered for the brand or spot.

Interruption Rate - The percentage of devices that were present at the beginning of the ad but did not complete watching the ad. Actions that interrupt ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV. The Interruption Rate is measured on a scale of 0 to 100%.

Attention Index - A comparison of the ad’s interruption rate against its specific media placement. The Attention Index is measured on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 is the average and means the ad is performing as expected.
Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.