Most-Viewed Auto Ads Air Across Range of Programming

Toyota claims two of iSpot.tv’s five most-watched automotive commercials – the ads that have generated the most impressions across national broadcast and cable TV airings – for the week of Feb. 28.

With football and the Olympics out of the mix, automakers are now casting a wider net across a variety of programming to reach viewers, including news, syndicated dramas, comedies and basketball. 

Exemplifying this trend is Toyota, with both the first and last place spots in the latest list. The top spot, “More Me,” leveraged comedies such as Friends and Ridiculousness and animated series including SpongeBob SquarePants, Paw Patrol and The Loud House to rack up more than 180 million impressions on an estimated national spend of only $1.2 million.

Meanwhile, Toyota’s fifth-place spot, “Born for the Wild,” focused on college and NBA basketball with a nearly identical estimated national budget. 

Between the two, “Born for the Wild” proved slightly more popular with viewers according to iSpot’s Ace Metrix survey data, scoring 2% above industry norms in overall response. 

Cadillac’s “Fortune Favors the Fearless” spot touting its electric-vehicle efforts, while second in overall impressions, had the best Ace Metrix scores of the week, ranking 5.5% above industry norms overall. It particularly stood out in the “change” category, as is typical for EV ads, scoring 11.2% above industry norms. 

In third place was Lexus’ “Amazing Invites,” which also leaned on college basketball to generate impressions. With March Madness approaching, this will be a trend worth keeping an eye on.

Nissan’s long-running “Electric Cars for Electric Drivers” ranked fourth with the highest ad spend among the top five commercials. 

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Toyota: More Me

Impressions: 182,499,828 

Interruption Rate: 1.85% 

Attention Index: 121 

Est. TV Spend: $1,278,832

Cadillac: Fortune Favors the Fearless

Impressions: 175,765,181 

Interruption Rate: 2.39% 

Attention Index: 104 

Est. TV Spend: $1,138,776

Lexus: Amazing Invites

Impressions: 128,782,104 

Interruption Rate: 1.67% 

Attention Index: 93 

Est. TV Spend: $628,036

Nissan: Electric Cars for Electric Drivers

Impressions: 125,023,204 

Interruption Rate: 2.22% 

Attention Index: 96 

Est. TV Spend: $1,314,001

Toyota: Born for the Wild

Impressions: 119,024,480

Interruption Rate: 2.15%

Attention Index: 105

Est. TV Spend: $1,214,083

Data provided by iSpot.tv, TV Ad Measurement for Disruptive Brands

*Ace Metrix auto industry norms data measured over the last 90 days.

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

Interruption Rate - The rate at which the audience present at the beginning of your ad disengages with it before it ends.

Attention Index - A comparison of your ad’s Interruption Rate against your specific media placement. The Attention Index is measured on a scale of 0 to 200, where 100 is the average and means your ad is performing as expected.

Est. National TV Spend - Amount spent on TV airings for the brand’s spots.