And the winner is: Volkswagon
Hands down, this award goes to the VW Passat spot, “The Force,” which got more than 4 million hits on YouTube before it even aired during the actual game, according to Stephen Hall, chairman of the School of Advertising at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Its “absence of language” also drew praise from Professor Carlson, co-author of the forthcoming book "Sold on Language: How advertisers talk to you and what it says about you." Possibly recognizing that the chatter over the chips and dip can erode the impact of a language-dependent ad, “The Force” used only the "Emperor’s March" from "Star Wars."
The Passat spot was “one of the few commercials that traded in kindliness,” observes Carlson, who compares it with a Budweiser ad from a few Super Bowls ago that featured a Clydesdale foal whose parent horses surreptitiously helped it move a large beer wagon.
"The advertisers who really got their money's worth today ... generated buzz before and after the game, not just during the 30 seconds they paid for,” writes Professor Hall in an e-mail.
