From Volkswagen’s adorable Darth Vader-inspired Super Bowl spot to Purell’s memorable placement on The Big Bang Theory, Nielsen names the top advertisements and integrations of the year. The lists demonstrate that reality and scripted shows continued to find innovative ways to integrate brands into their broadcast primetime programming. The best liked ads reflect the enduring value of traditional ad elements that have withstood the test of time – strong creative, simple and engaging messaging, and a solid emotional connection.
Stay tuned for Nielsen’s top 10s in TV, digital and entertainment.
| Rank | Title | Ad Description (Seconds) | Likability Index |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Volkswagen | Super Bowl: Passat — A little boy dressed as Darth Vader believes he used “the force” to turn on a car (:30) | 231 |
| 2 | Oreo | Boy wakes up father at midnight for a Father’s Day treat (:15) | 201 |
| 3 | St. Jude’s | Shaun White sits with kids, who wear wigs matching his hairstyle (:30) | 191 |
| 4 | Hallmark | Recordable Storybook — Deployed soldier shares holidays with family when he flips through recorded storybook (:30) | 190 |
| 5 | Real California Milk | Cow tells mom to change her “mom jeans” and show off her “bundt cake” (:30) | 189 |
| 6 | Doritos | Super Bowl: A man licks snack crumbs off his coworker’s fingers (:30) | 188 |
| 7 | Target | Boy in gecko costume uses sticky gecko hands to take all of the candy when trick-or-treating (:15) | 187 |
| 8 | M&M’s | Pretzel — Candy and pretzel combo prefer to be eaten by attractive woman than man they call “Hungry Eyes” (:30) | 186 |
| 9 | Marie Callender’s & Reddi-Wip | Boy is happy to sit at the adult table but returns to eat with the kids when they are served pie and whipped cream. (:30) | 185 |
| 10 | Pepsi | Pop stars like Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Britney Spears, Kanye West, and Mariah Carey perform and drink soda. (:30) | 184 |
| Source: Nielsen
Data from January 1, 2011 – November 30, 2011. Broadcast Prime. Only new ad executions considered. The Likeability Score is the percentage of TV viewers who report to like “a lot” an ad they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing TV (among those recalling the brand of the ad). These scores are then indexed against the mean score for all new ads during the period (Likeability Index). 100 equals average. Read as: With a Likeability Index of 231 the top ranked Volkswagen ad has proven to be 131 percent better-liked than the average new commercial during the measured period. |
| Rank | Brand | Branded Integration Description | Program (Network/Air Date) | Recall Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purell | Sheldon uses hand sanitizer after he puts a live snake in a desk drawer. | The Big Bang Theory (CBS, Oct 27) | 271 |
| 2 | Red Bull | Tessa describes the official drink of suburbia; people drink it repeatedly. | Suburgatory (ABC, Sep 28) | 214 |
| 3 | Milton Bradley | Twister — Amy suggests that the group play the travel version of a game. | The Big Bang Theory (CBS, Nov 17) | 208 |
| 4 | Ferrari | Beckett drives a car after Castle explains that it is a high performance vehicle. | Castle (ABC, Feb 7) | 207 |
| 5 | Subway | Big Mike says that his kidnapping hasn’t been that bad because his kidnappers brought sandwiches. | Chuck (NBC, Mar 21) | 206 |
| 6 | Wizards of the Coast Games | Dungeons & Dragons — Wolowitz comments on the way that Sheldon plays a board game. | The Big Bang Theory (CBS, Oct 6) | 205 |
| 7 | Rolex | Laura comments on the price of a watch she purchased before she realizes it may have been stolen. | Pan Am (ABC, Oct 30) | 204 |
| 8 | Snapple | Waldon drinks a beverage while talking to Alan about his breakup. | Two and a Half Men (CBS, Oct 17) | 203 |
| 9 | Hasbro | Scrabble — Dick tells Susan that he’d rather play Scrabble than talk to her. | Desperate Housewives (ABC, Jan 16) | 200 |
| 10 | Hasbro | Monopoly — Penny wants to play a board game after getting home from a trip with Tom. | Desperate Housewives (ABC, Oct 2) | 199 |
| Source: Nielsen | ||||
| Data from January 1, 2011 – November 30, 2011. Broadcast Prime. The Recall Score is the percentage of television viewers who can recall within 24 hours the brand/product of a branded integration they were exposed to during the normal course of viewing Dramas/Sitcoms. These scores are then indexed against the mean score for all integrations occurring in this genre during the time period (Recall Index). 100 equals average. | ||||
| Note: For this analysis, branded integrations were only considered if the occurrence had visual elements (i.e., was “seen” on-screen) or both visual and auditory elements (i.e., was both “seen” and “mentioned”). Only first-run episodes were considered. Both planned and incidental exposures were included. |
| Rank | Program | Network | Total Number of Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | American Idol | FOX | 577 |
| 2 | The Biggest Loser | NBC | 533 |
| 3 | The Celebrity Apprentice | NBC | 391 |
| 4 | Dancing with the Stars | ABC | 390 |
| 5 | The X Factor | FOX | 312 |
| 6 | Extreme Makeover: Home Edition | ABC | 224 |
| 7 | America’s Got Talent | NBC | 220 |
| 8 | Friday Night Lights | NBC | 201 |
| 9 | America’s Next Top Model | CW | 178 |
| 10 | The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business | CBS | 161 |
| Source: Nielsen | |||
| Data from January 1 – November 30, 2011. Primetime entertainment programming on five Broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, and NBC). First-run episodes only. As a result of coding enhancements implemented in 2009, occurrence counts now reflect the total number of show segments in which a brand/product appears or is mentioned. |
