Short Kia Commercial Finds Sweet Spot Among Viewers

Kia needs only 15 seconds to claim first place in the iSpot.tv/WardsAuto ranking of the most-viewed automotive commercials – the ads that have racked up the highest number of TV impressions across national television broadcasts – for July 17-23.

Kia tops the list with a short-and-sweet spot promoting its SUV summer clearance event, touting the fact that its cars have been ranked “No.1 in initial quality” two years in a row by J.D. Power. Commercials in this ranking typically are 30 or 60 seconds long, so it’s interesting to see a 15-second spot get a major push from an auto brand.

Chevrolet’s ad showcasing “real people” (not actors) taking its vehicles for a test drive on a racetrack moves up the chart from No.5 to No.2. The company also snags fourth place with an ad in which valets, instead of delivering patrons’ own cars, give them a chance to explore the options offered by the ’18 Chevy Equinox.

In third place is Ford, promoting a sales event that encourages people to take on summer the right way with deals such as interest-free financing for 72 months or $4,000 cash back on the ’17 Escape. Upbeat music from Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen keeps the mood light.

The summer-sales theme continues with Honda’s fifth-place ad that promises to help keep things fun with great deals on the ’17 Civic LX sedan.

iSpot.tv is a real-time TV ad measurement company with attention and conversion analytics from 10 million smart TV screens.

Data provided by

1. Kia: Summer SUV Clearance Event: Award-Winning SUVs

259,251,097 Impressions, 94.08 Attention Score, $4,406,786 Est. TV Spend

2. Chevrolet Chevy Summer Drive: New Excitement

205,714,488 Impressions, 88.66 Attention Score, $284,917 Est. TV Spend

3. Ford: Summer Sales Event: Ice Cream

184,956,804 Impressions, 93.55 Attention Score, $3,684,170 Est. TV Spend

4. Chevrolet: Valet

182,575,248 Impressions, 94.81 Attention Score, $3,164,036 Est. TV Spend

5. Honda: Summerbration Sales Event: Ice Cream

171,272,053 Impressions, 88.15 Attention Score, $1,440,428 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.
Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.