Sports Media Report
USA TODAY, part of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), announced that Jeep’s “Groundhog Day” was voted the winning commercial of USA TODAY’s 32nd Super Bowl Ad Meter, the industry-leading tool used to track public opinion surrounding Super Bowl ads. The commercial received the highest average rating in this year’s competition, which is presented by Kia – a previous Ad Meter winner in 2017 and sponsor of the 30th Anniversary of Ad Meter in 2018. The commercial features actor Bill Murray in a nostalgic nod to his film “Groundhog Day,” but with a twist. This time, a new Jeep turns the problem of reliving the same day over and over into a joyride alongside the famous weatherman, Punxsutawney Phil. This is the first time that Jeep has finished first USA TODAY’s Ad Meter.
https://youtu.be/AnhzGUcENWo
Voting took place on the Ad Meter platform at admeter.usatoday.com starting on Wednesday, January 29, at noon ET and remained open until the night of the Super Bowl at 1 a.m. ET/10 p.m. PT. Like last year, there were tens of thousands of participants. Registered panelists were required to rate every eligible national Super Bowl ad that aired between the coin toss through the end of the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter, including halftime, and, the ad with the highest average rating was named the winner.
The top five ads, as rated by the 2020 Ad Meter panelists, are:
1. Jeep, “Groundhog Day,” 7.01
2. Hyundai, “Smaht Pahk,” 6.98
3. Google, “Loretta,” 6.77
4. Doritos, “The Cool Ranch,” 6.62
5. Rocket Mortgage, “Comfortable,” 6.60
For this year’s competition, USA TODAY and YouTube launched a strategic partnership to bring data insights to the Ad Meter platform, allowing both participants and brands to see a more robust picture around the video popularity of this year’s ads. All commercials ranked in USA TODAY’s 32nd Ad Meter are also curated into a proprietary USA TODAY Ad Meter Playlist on AdBlitz, a YouTube exclusive.
“We are delighted to see that so many consumers continue to turn to the Ad Meter platform to vote for their favorite ads year after year. Ad Meter has become such a strong tradition that gives fans the chance to crown the Super Bowl commercial champion,” said Maribel Perez Wadsworth, president of USA TODAY NETWORK and publisher of USA TODAY. “Congratulations to Jeep on earning this year’s top spot.”
“It was an incredible year with Super Bowl ads that made people laugh and shared poignant and touching stories. Together with Josh Jacobs, Kia proudly used its time on advertising’s biggest stage to raise awareness and drive action against the issue of youth homelessness,” said Russell Wager, director, marketing operations, Kia Motors America. “Congratulations to Jeep and welcome to the Ad Meter winner’s circle.”
