Doritos Spot Sets Record, Most-Watched Ever

Doritos

This past Super Bowl was the most-watched TV show of all time -- with 106.5 million average viewers. This has resulted in viewership records for Super Bowl commercials, as well.

The Nielsen Company now says the Doritos commercial featuring two men attacked in a gym for stealing someone else's Doritos was seen by an estimated 116.2 million viewers, which makes it the most-watched TV commercial of all time.

Audi's Green Police came in second with 115.6 million and Electronic Arts' Dante's Inferno spot came in third place at 115.0 million.

Focus on the Family's controversial ad featuring Tim Tebow tied for the least-viewed ad of Super Bowl XLIV, according to Nielsen. The commercial got heavy pre-game buzz going into the game. This coincides with what many social-networking analyses have revealed -- most of the attention for the campaign happened before the Super Bowl.

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As for other spots, CBS's much-discussed 15-second promo for CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman," featuring cameo appearances by Jay Leno and Oprah Winfrey, was seen by an estimated 110.4 million viewers.

Most Viewed Ads During Super Bowl XLIV

RANK

Commercial

Time of Air (ET)

# of Viewers

1

DORITOS/Gym

9:30:01 PM

116,231,920

2

AUDI/Green Police

9:26:29 PM

115,647,840

3

ELECTRONIC ARTS/Dante's Inferno

9:15:22 PM

115,063,760

4

HONDA/Squirrel

9:20:20 PM

114,771,720

5

TACO BELL/It Rocks

9:27:29 PM

114,771,720

6

BUD LIGHT/Book Party

9:32:13 PM

114,771,720

7

HYUNDAI/Built By Hand

9:32:43 PM

114,771,720

8

BUDWEISER/Horse Fence

9:15:52 PM

113,603,560

9

US CENSUS BUREAU/Production Mtg

8:49:23 PM

113,019,480

10

E*TRADE/5 Babies

9:33:13 PM

112,727,440

Source: The Nielsen Company

 

2 comments about "Doritos Spot Sets Record, Most-Watched Ever".
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  1. Dave Woodall from fiorano associates, February 10, 2010 at 1:56 p.m.

    Definitely a case of being in the right place at the right time as all the spots listed (with the exception of the Census Bureau) came relatively late in the game.

    What would be interesting to know is each spot's pod position; my guess is at least half ran in position one.

  2. Fred Jones, February 10, 2010 at 2:08 p.m.

    Yup, great commercial. But I still bought Pringles for lunch.

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