Super Bowl 2021 Ads: Here Are the Most-Watched Spots on YouTube

The Super Bowl LV game itself turned out to be a blowout — a runaway victory for Tom Brady’s Bucanneers and a dispiriting defeat for Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs. But the ads once again jumped into the spotlight, hitting a range of emotional notes running from the somber to the silly.

The No. 1 most-watched ad on Super Bowl Sunday, according to YouTube: Amazon’s spot featuring Michael B. Jordan as the ideal corporeal form of Alexa. That was followed by Bruce Springsteen’s ode to America for Jeep, and Timothée Chalamet’s turn as the scion of Edward Scissorhands for Cadillac.

YouTube ranked the most-viewed Super Bowl LV commercials in the U.S. based on their total views on Sunday (Feb. 8) through 10 p.m. ET:

1. Amazon: “Alexa’s Body” featuring Michael B. Jordan
Amazon’s Super Bowl ad this year — the ecommerce giant’s sixth consecutive appearance in the NFL championship game — asked the question, “What would be the ideal body for Alexa?” The answer? Michael B. Jordan, star of “Black Panther” and “Creed.”

2. Jeep: “The Middle” featuring Bruce Springsteen
The 2-minute spot from Jeep features the usually commercial-shy rock icon Bruce Springsteen in an ode to unity, healing the divide, and common American ideals.

3. Cadillac: All-Electric Cadillac LYRIQ – “ScissorHandsFree”
Cadillac pays homage to a classic Tim Burton movie in its “Edgar Scissorhands” spot, starring Timothée Chalamet as the undexterous son of Edward (whose mom was played by Winona Ryder) discovering the joys of hands-free cruise control.

4. Uber Eats: Wayne’s World & Cardi B’s Shameless Manipulation
The food-delivery division of Uber tapped the deep well of “Saturday Night Live” nostalgia by revisiting the basement public-access show Wayne’s World. Rapper Cardi B pops in to spice things up.

5. Paramount Plus: Paramount Plus Expedition, “Sweet Victory”
ViacomCBS’s spots promoting the upcoming launch of Paramount Plus streaming service perplexed many viewers — who were intrigued enough by the weird melange to check out this spot. SpongeBob, RuPaul and James Corden joined an all-star cast of heroes from Paramount’s streaming service Paramount Plus, as they scaled to the top of Paramount mountain, where a tuxedo-clad Patrick Stewart had convened them.

6. Disney Plus/Marvel Entertainment – “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” Official Trailer
The second Disney Plus series to be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sees Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprising their big-screen roles as the Falcon and the Winter Solider.

7. Amazon Prime Video: “Coming 2 America” Official Trailer
Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall reunite in the sequel to 1988’s “Coming to America,” as now King Akeem Joffer of the fictional African nation of Zamunda travels to the United States to find his son.

8. Anheuser-Busch: “Let’s Grab a Beer”
Anheuser-Busch chose to skip its usual Budweiser brand presence among Super Bowl commercials this year, but it debuted its first-ever company ad for the big game. David Fincher, director of “Gone Girl” and “Fight Club,” produced the cinematic spot, which shows everyday people enjoying beers together in a poignant reminder of pre-pandemic life.

9. Doritos: Doritos 3D – “Flat Matthew”
Actor Matthew McConaughey appears as a flattened 2D version of himself who gets bowled over by a football and tangles with a robot vacuum until a bag of Doritos 3D chips restore him to his usual self.

10. Chipotle: Can a Burrito Change the World?
Quick-serve restaurant chain Chipotle arrived at the Super Bowl to ask the deep question “Can a burrito change the world?”

Other Super Bowl LV data from Google and YouTube:

  • Viewership of Super Bowl LV ads on YouTube during the game on TVs overall climbed more than 70% compared with 2020.
  • The Weeknd’s YouTube channel peaked at over 1.6 million views per hour at 8 p.m. ET, when he stepped into Raymond James Stadium for a dazzling halftime show. Total game-day views of his channel doubled compared with the first Sunday of last month (Jan. 3, 2021).
  • On Google, queries for “super bowl audience” spiked 2,150% in the U.S.; “how many fans are allowed at super bowl” also was a breakout search.
  • The top-trending Google searches in the U.S. during the game were “why is super bowl delayed”; “‘is gisele at the superbowl” (that’s Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady’s wife — she was); “how much do super bowl refs make” (estimated to be $30,000-$50,000); “what quarter is the super bowl in”; and “what is the score of the super bowl.”

Source: Read Full Article