• February 6, 2012

So, how well did Clint Eastwood do in Eminem's job pitching Chrysler (sort of) during the Super Bowl? Actually, the Eastwood ad really had nothing even remotely to do with the brand, though you could see a Jeep wheel well, and upper third of a Dodge Challenger. Did the two-minute ad do as well as last year's “Born of Fire” spot. According to Edmunds.com, no.
 
A real-time analysis of traffic on Edmunds.com showed the share of Chrysler page views increased only about 13% in the hour following the ad’s airing. By contrast, Hyundai’s share climbed 134% shortly after its ad aired, Acura climbed 110% and Chrysler sibling Fiat climbed a ridiculous 2,388% following the airing of its provocative ad for the Fiat 500 Abarth.

“Chrysler set an almost unachievably high bar with last year’s ad, so in comparison, this year’s message simply fell flat,” said Edmunds.com Vice Chairman Jeremy Anwyl. “The ad tried to capture the same mood that made last year’s commercial so effective, but America’s state of mind right now is different from where it was last year. Using the same formula, Chrysler didn't elicit the same emotional response.” That is probably because the visuals weren't about Detroit, really. Last year's spot was so striking because of the images of the Motor City. This was more generic.

On Edmunds.com, the Fiat 500 had the biggest jump in research, with its share of page views soaring 3,354% in the moments after the Abarth ad aired, per the site.

Hyundai had some of the biggest jumps among the models researched last night: Veloster’s share jumped 716% in the minutes after its ad aired in the first quarter. The Genesis and Elantra enjoyed big jumps in the moments after their pre-game ads aired, climbing 537% and 119%, respectively.

Chevrolet Sonic’s share of page views peaked at 346% last night while the Camaro peaked at 137%. Volkswagen’s ad featuring a dog training to chase after a Beetle led to healthy gains for the vehicle’s share of page views on Edmunds.com, peaking at 367% moments after it aired in the second quarter.