Mad 4 Blog

Last week, we reported that the Feb. 5 Super Bowl pulled in 111.3 million users, but Madonna’s halftime show pulled in 117.7 sets of eyes. And 114 million were tuned in for the last half-hour, watching as the Giants came back to shut down the Patriots.

Aside from the small screen, there were also an additional 2.11 million viewers watching the game online via live-streaming hosted on NBC. And an estimated 98 million fans used an app on their mobile devices at some point or another to check on the game, reports USA Today. The same article states that users increasingly checked their phones during the first three quarters of the game, but then were more likely to watch the fourth quarter and halftime on their television sets. With so many people likely checking the score online or on their mobile device, those broadened the spectrum for advertisers to reach Super Bowl audiences without the millions of dollars necessary for a television commercial.

And the TV commercials themselves have garnered quite an interest online; in fact, for the second year in a row, Hulu has dedicated an entire channel to viewing the ads. Yes, people are actually logging online just to watch commercials. The art form has certainly come a long way. An estimated 73% of Super Bowl viewers today consider the commercials a part of the night’s entertainment, according to a BIGinsight survey. However, only 16.9% say they feel they come away from watching these pieces with expanded brand awareness.

Then again, numbers can’t tell us everything. Although we mentioned last week that the Skechers ad was a critical favorite, USA Today article tells us that Flurry considers commercials the strongest where people looked up from their phones toward the TV: This happened primarily for the Elton John Diet Pepsi spot. But those rating commercials on Hulu have the Volkswagen ad eking by sheerly on terms of popularity. And the Hulu critic’s pick was an out-of-the-box baby-in-a-sling Doritos ad. (Neilsen reports have this as the most memorable ad days after the fact, as well.)

Which Super Bowl commercials were your favorite, and why?

Super Bowl 2012 boasted the largest viewership in the championship’s history, with 111.3 million tuned in to their TVs (a rise of 0.3 over the previous record from last year). Naturally, that’s going to mean it’s “super” important which commercials showed and what trends advertisers were using to promote those expensively promoted brands.

Many of the ads we saw this year were derivatives of success stories from former years. Top contenders were Budweiser, E*Trade, GoDaddy, Volkswagen and Doritos. No major brands made a surprise appearance during what would have been a smash year to debut.

Another trend was the introduction of dogs – perhaps a cheeky reference to the day’s other big televised event, the Puppy Bowl? Canines were featured in commercials for Volkswagen, Skechers, Doritos and Bud Light:

• Volkswagen showed a dog getting in shape to chase the new Beetle. But at the end, it cuts to a surprise scene calling back to last year’s Darth Vader triumph, a smart little wink to audiences.
• Skechers highlighted a French bulldog named Mr. Quiggly who wins a race by running in the brand’s sneakers. (This ad was picked as the best overall by the Michigan State University Department of Advertising, which has been rating the event’s commercials for 15 years.)
• Doritos showed a Great Dane bringing his owner chips in order to stay quiet about the neighborhood’s missing cat.
• Bud Light featured a rescue dog trained to fetch beers, and the commercial ended by informing viewers how they can also connect with pets in need.

One viewer favorite was a Honda CRV commercial featuring Matthew Broderick spoofing cult classic “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” Another hit was David Beckham’s latest underwear advertisements for H&M, which prove to the world that the aging athlete’s still got it. Elton John’s Diet Pepsi spot caused a lot of controversy in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, as he panned Madonna’s upcoming halftime performance and touted his own appearance (the ad also highlighted Fox’s “The X-Factor”). M&Ms once again toed the line between risqué and humorous as red character stripped out of his candy shell, confusing the brown female character for being naked.

Check back next week for a by-the-numbers look at how these ads performed.