In case you hadn’t heard, the New England Patriots just won the Super Bowl (again!) last night, making history alongside the Los Angeles Rams in the lowest-scoring Big Game ever. Of course, in addition to the on-field action, football fans were also focused on the 2019 Super Bowl commercials. And so were we!
When we first reported on the spots listed on USA Today’s Ad Meter, there were 25 publicly-available YouTube videos; now, there are 56 publicly-available commercials on YouTube. According to Ad Meter, voters around the world chose the NFL’s very own “The 100-Year Game” as the best Super Bowl ad of 2019. However, this spot didn’t claim the most online video views, nor the most social engagement. Those honors go to other 2019 Super Bowl commercials, as well as the awards for highest average three-day view counts (V3) and three-day engagement rates (ER3).
Below, we reveal the winners of all 2019 Super Bowl commercials based on these metrics! We’ve only included approved/final spots from brands’ official YouTube accounts uploaded in the last 30 days. Note that not all ads have V3s or ER3s as of yet (we’ll update this article when those are live), but we’ve included the available info we currently have on each clip. All data is accurate as of 12:25 p.m. PT, Feb. 4, 2019. Let’s start with a summary of this year’s ads!
Post Updated: 06/02/2019 11:40 A.M. PT – All stats have been updated to show accurate view counts, engagements, and V3s and ER3s. If available, V7s (average 7-day view counts) and ER7s (average 7-day engagement rates) have been added. Because of these changes, Google used to claim the highest ER3 for its “Job Search for Veterans | Google Super Bowl Commercial 2019” at 1.3x ER3; however, Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame trailer now boasts the highest ER3 at 2x, making it the most-engaged clip on YouTube from all Super Bowl ads! Additionally, in the top five most-watched spots, Amazon Prime Video swapped places with Budweiser to claim #3, while TurboTax‘s robot-inspired ad jumped up a few positions to place #5, replacing the previous seat-holder DEVOUR Foods.
2019 Super Bowl Commercials: Overview and Fun Facts
- Brands submitted 58 official ads to Ad Meter.
- 56 of these are publicly-available on YouTube.
- The brands who uploaded the most Super Bowl spots at four each were T-Mobile and Bud Light.
- The most-represented category was food and beverage with 17 total ads; media and telecom were second with seven ads each, followed by the auto industry with six ads.
- Five of the top ten most-watched and most-engaged 2019 Super Bowl commercials were from food and drink brands.
- An overarching trend was the focus on Millennial-based nostalgia and references (likely because of that generation’s buying power). For example, musicians popular in the ’90s and early 2000’s such as Ludacris, Backstreet Boys, and Lil’ John were featured in this year’s spots, and the traditional kids’ cartoon Looney Tunes was featured in Mercedes-Benz’s ad. Leading talent from top Millennial-era entertainment were also present like Jeff Bridges’ The Dude from The Big Lebowski; featured celebrities were also heavily female-leaning with Christina Applegate from Anchorman, Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & the City, and Sarah Michelle Gellar a la Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Amazon claimed the most-watched commercial, with Hyundai, Amazon Prime Video, Budweiser, and TurboTax dominating places 2-5.
- Marvel Entertainment claimed the top two most-engaged clips from this year’s Super Bowl spots, followed by Budweiser, the NFL, and Michelob ULTRA.
Most-Watched: “Not Everything Makes the Cut”
- Released by Amazon
- 38.8M views
- 15.1K engagements
- 14.6M V3, 38.4M V7
- <0.1x ER3 & ER7
Most-Engaged: “Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame – Big Game TV Spot”
- Released by Marvel Entertainment
- 560K engagements
- 2x ER3
- 15.3M views
- 13.8M V3
Highest V3: “Not Everything Makes the Cut”
- Released by Amazon
- 14.6M V3, 38.4M V7
- 38.8M views
- 15.1K engagements
- <0.1x ER3 & ER7
Highest ER3: “Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame – Big Game TV Spot”
- Released by Marvel Entertainment
- 2x ER3
- 560K engagements
- 15.3M views
- 13.8M V3
Don’t forget to check out our rundown of this year’s overall Super Bowl content performance on both YouTube and Facebook (hint: food brands took over YouTube, while media and entertainment scored well on Facebook!).