• The Wall Street Journal, Thursday, January 29, 2009 9:45 AM

Investors should spend more time watching the Super Bowl ads. It turns out that if you buy stock in companies that produce the most-loved ads, you are likely to be rewarded in the short term, according to research by Cornell University and the State University of New York.

Companies that produce the 10 most-liked Super Bowl ads, per USA Today's survey, see an average stock performance the Monday after the game that is 0.26% better than the day's action in the S&P 500. The companies that produce the least-liked ads are up 0.01% when compared with the broader market. "Statistical evidence shows that if people feel positively toward a Super Bowl commercial, "they also feel positive toward those firms that represent those commercials," says researcher Kenneth Kim.

This outperformance continues through the week -- and the next month. Top 10 ads outperformed the market by 2.98% over the 20 trading days following the Super Bowl. The 10 least-liked ads also showed an outperformance, bettering the market by 1.47% over the next 20 days. The gains suggest the liked and disliked ads give investors a heightened awareness of a particular product -- even if sales of the advertised product do not improve.

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