Nissan’s ‘Whodunnit’ Tops the Most-Seen Auto Ads Ranking

With over 126.5 million TV ad impressions, a new spot from Nissan advertising its current sales event takes first place in iSpot.tv’s ranking of the most-seen automotive ads for Feb. 13-19. Since debuting on Feb. 10, the commercial has aired over 750 times with Family Feud, Next Level Chef and Live with Kelly and Ryan as the top three impressions-generating programs. 

In second place is a Subaru spot for the Solterra, the brand’s first all-electric, zero-emissions CUV, “built to help you protect the environment as you explore it.” According to iSpot’s Creative Assessment, the spot had 90% brand recognition (the percentage of survey respondents who remembered it was a Subaru ad after watching it) – above the automaker industry norm of 80%. 

Dodge celebrates “the real brotherhood of muscle” with its No.3 spot featuring real footage from real Dodge owners. Over 16% of the ad’s TV impressions came from CBS – more than twice any other network. 60 Minutes (7.5 million impressions) was the top program, followed by men’s college basketball (6.6 million) and Yellowstone (4 million). 

Ram’s fourth-place commercial touts the versatility of its trucks and promotes its Presidents’ Day sales event, during which customers could get special deals on the ’22 Ram 1500 Big Horn. Notably, similar impression counts (between 7.2 and 7.6 million impressions) for the ad were generated by four networks: Paramount Network, NBC, ION and Fox Sports 1. In terms of specific programs, Today led with 6 million impressions, followed by Yellowstone (5.2 million) and NASCAR Cup Series (4.6 million).

Land Rover rounds out the ranking with “Friends in High Places,” highlighting how the 8-seat Defender 130 is “capable of great things wherever you find yourself” – even if “wherever” happens to be at the top of a cliff. The sweeping landscape footage resonated with viewers: Per iSpot’s Creative Assessment, 36% of survey respondents cited the visual scenes as the single best thing about the ad. 

(Click on blue links for videos) 

1. Nissan: Nissan Sales Event: Whodunnit

Impressions: 126,504,461

Interruption Rate: 2.18%

Attention Index: 83

Est. TV Spend: $486,500

2. Subaru: Our Journey

Impressions: 119,968,057

Interruption Rate: 3.31%

Attention Index: 92

Est. TV Spend: $863,446

3. Dodge: The Real Brotherhood of Muscle

Impressions: 113,740,647

Interruption Rate: 2.40%

Attention Index: 98

Est. TV Spend: $620,788

4. Ram Trucks: Presidents Day Sales Event: What It Means To Be a Ram

Impressions: 112,264,465

Interruption Rate: 2.75%

Attention Index: 98

Est. TV Spend: $703,565

5. Land Rover: Friends In High Places

Impressions: 100,928,067

Interruption Rate: 3.87%

Attention Index: 88

Est. TV Spend: $564,223

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

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.