Wix.com ad
Gal Gadot and Jason Statham in an action-packed ad for Wix.com, a web development platform. (iSpot.tv screen grab)

Brands attempting to make a lasting impression with a Super Bowl ad are turning to some of the tried and true elements of year’s past — employing big stars, lots of action, some tugging of the heart strings, a bit of comedy, and more.

Whether any of it is working in the days leading up to Sunday’s game is the question for the folks at iSpot.tv, the Bellevue, Wash.-based company that watches how you watch television by tracking ads in real time and measuring digital responses.

Here are some of the latest numbers from iSpot.tv:

  • Total online views are approaching 200 million; down 78 million year over year (274M to 196M).
  • Earned YouTube views approaching 50 million — down 20 million from 2016 and down 80 million from 2015.
  • Social actions up 1+ million to 2.1 million.
  • Facebook views approaching 100 million mark.
  • TV impressions are up 30 million to 306.8 million on $300,000 less spending.
iSpot.tv super bowl ads
Click to enlarge. (iSpot.tv Graphic)

iSpot.tv also shared some insight on which ads were leading the way in social actions — total tweets (shares and mentions), Facebook (likes, shares and comments), YouTube (votes and comments), and iSpot.tv (votes and comments).

  1. Mercedes Benz – Easy Driver (393,000 social actions)
  2. Wix.com – Chez Felix: Director’s Cut (377,000 social actions)
  3. Budweiser – Born the Hard Way (189,000 social actions)
  4. Buick – Not So Pee Wee Football (165,000 social actions)
  5. Bai – Crackling Fire (162,000 social actions)

In earned online views, Budweiser’s inspiring ad detailing the immigrant origins of founder Adolphus Busch takes over the top spot:

  1. Budweiser – Born the Hard Way (8.5M earned online views)
  2. Wix.com – Chez Felix: Director’s Cut (5.9M earned online views)
  3. TurboTax – Humpty Fall (5.2M earned online views)
  4. Audi – Daughter (4.9M earned online views)
  5. Mr. Clean – Cleaner of Your Dreams (3.9M earned online views)

As far as the geekiest stuff we’ve been seeing, whether it’s for ads from tech companies or ads pushing video games or movies, have a look at some of the standouts below (we already covered Nintendo and T-Mobile in separate posts):

Go Daddy: ‘The Internet Wants you’

 

Squarespace: ‘Calling JohnMalkovich.com’

 

Wix.com: ‘Chez Felix Director’s Cut’

 

Ford: ‘Go Further’

 

TurboxTax: ‘Humpty Fall’

 

‘Ghost in the Shell’ movie trailer

 

Evony: ‘The King’s Return’ mobile game

 

Intel: ‘Brady Everyday’

 

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.