• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, February 6, 2006

It's clear this morning who the victor was in Sunday's gridiron competition between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks. Less clear is who actually won the Super Advertising Bowl. The first of what is expected to be a procession of surveys proclaiming various ad spots the winner of Super Bowl XL, were already demonstrating that when it comes to TV advertising, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A rapid-fire survey released in the wee hours of Monday morning by marketing services and agency holding company ICOM found Federal Express' "Caveman" spot to be the "Water Cooler Wonder" (aka "The Best of The Bowl"), while newspaper USA Today's annual post-Super Bowl AdMeter determined Anheuser-Busch's "Secret Refrigerator" spot to be the biggest ad in the Big Game.

The ongoing debate about which actually was the best spot in the game, of course, will be good news for all the advertisers discussed, generating more residual consumer buzz and media coverage--which for many, is half the game.

A third, arguably more scientific measure--a second-by-second analysis of actual commercial play time, including trick viewing, tracked in TiVo households--found that Ameriquest was the most popular commercial among TiVo users. The 10 most replayed spots in the 10,000 TiVo households surveyed were:

1. Ameriquest Friendly Skies
2. Ameriquest That Killed Him
3. Budweiser Streaking Sheep
4. Fed Ex Caveman
5. Michelob Touch Football
6. Bud Light Hidden Bud Lights
7. Sierra Mist Kathy Griffin
8. Bud Light Bear Attack
9. Aleve Leonard Nimoy
10. Bud Light Revolving Wall

The hype surrounding ads in the game is always a big part of the annual rite, but it also is a clear example of something the ad industry is moving closer to: advertising that is engaging, generates watercooler talk, and, of course, is measurable. The problem is that the industry still lacks standards for what actually constitutes such metrics. By the end of today dozens more researchers, including so-called buzz metrics firms that measure online chatter from blogs and discussion groups, will weigh in with their "favorites," but as the ICOM and USA Today polls show, great advertising can stir great debates.

According to USA Today's poll, Anheuser-Busch took top honors in the annual survey for the eight straight year. Its slapstick refrigerator spot scored an 8.39 rating on a scale of 0 to 10, with 10 being the best. The results are based on the findings of 207 volunteers in Phoenix, Arizona and McLean, Va., using hand-held meters to register their second-by-second "like" and "dislike" of commercials airing in the game.

Based on that method, Anheuser-Busch took the top two positions: Its "Young Clydesdale" spot scored an 8.18, with the FedEx caveman commercial ranking third with a 7.95 grade, followed by PepsiCo's Sierra Mist "Airport Security" commercial's 7.86.

The ICOM poll, which was based on an online survey of "advertising professionals"--members of the staff of ICOM's agencies across the country--rated FedEx's "Caveman" the best spot, but were mixed on Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser and Bud Light spots.

Ameriquest's two commercials were deemed the "funniest spots, but for a brand I forgot," while Anheuser-Busch's commercials were cited as "Best Brand Builders of the Bunch." Toyota Tacoma's "Ocean" commercial, which showed one of the hearty pick-up trucks being pummeled in an ocean crest, righting itself and driving away, were picked as the "Gee, I Wish I Did That" spot.