• by P.J. Bednarski , Staff Writer @pjbtweet, December 3, 2014

I’m not sure that one year or one month from now I will remember Shakira’s “ “La La La (Brazil 2014)” was a World Cup ad for Activia, though I’m sure I’ll remember that video and that song, which seemed to be everywhere this summer.

It tops Unruly’s list of the most shared video ad of 2014, announced this morning as its Video Sharing Awards were celebrated via a Twitter special (#VSAs).

The Activia ad had 5.8 million shares worldwide, ahead of ads for Samsung (4.3 million shares) and Nike (3.8 million).

Maybe it’s more instructive to explain what didn’t win, which was any car brand, and that, Unruly experts said, was because the Super Bowl showcase for big, showy ads was quite a dog. Shares from Super Bowl ads were off by one-third this year, for the first time in the history of the big game, or at least since the idea/possibility of sharing ads was more than the wild glimmer in the eye of some crazed advertising executive.

It's pretty possible the next Super Bowl, viewers will have to be satisfied with a football game; the marketing event may have jumped at least halfway over the shark.

To me, it’s just a guess about what a so-memorable ad does for a brand besides be memorable though I suppose they make me feel better about some beer, soap or car that I have no intention of buying. Yet, years of Budweiser ads that have made me laugh, cry and salute the flag have not made me want to buy a Bud. It’s a comparing horses-and-hops kind of thing.

But not to be totally cynical about it, passing around a commercial to friends and family is a heck of an endorsement of a brand’s message, even if, as in the case of the Activia spot, the bigger point was to pass it around to raise support for the World Food Program. 

Other ads in the top 10 were mostly more straight-forward. To get consumers to do the circulating shows some powerful engagement, and Unruly is in business in part to guide advertisers toward creating ads that create buzz, and stop ones that don't. 

But generally, these are ads that mostly make you feel good about a brand, not ads that make you feel you have to buy whatever it is they’re selling. Shakira could get 1 million shares for the Frack Every Damn Place On Earth Association with a cool video but probably wouldn’t get a lot more people to support fracking.

So I’m impressed. And skeptical.

In the Unruly derby,  Samsung was second on the list—it was first last year. It launched a few videos in time for the World Cup and two of them, #Galaxy11: The Training (538,262 shares) and #Galaxy11: The Beginning (404,348 shares) that helped it get to second place overall. Nike scored with “The Last Game” (2,151,809 shares) and “Winner Stays” (1,432,957 shares)

Here’s the top ten:

Activia--5,851,633 shares

Samsung--4,301,989

Nike-- 3,844.268

Coca Cola--  3 357,945

NBA--3,110,160

Budweiser 3,100,944

Go Pro--2,863,293

Adidas--2,852,945

Pepsi--2,413,830

Electronic Arts--2,362,152