A Budweiser commercial featuring a Dalmatian training a down-and-out Clydesdale to become part of the famous Budweiser beer wagon team was picked as the best-liked Super Bowl commercial, USA Today reports.
“It is a spot about tradition, about the little guy succeeding,” said Bob Lachky, chief creative officer of Anheuser-Busch. “There’s a real era of cynicism right now, and America was ready for this message. It has a message about trying harder.”
Volunteers gave the ad a score of 8.73 out of 10, according to USA TODAY’s Ad Meter, which measures the popularity of Super Bowl ads.
Companies paid an average of $2.7 million for 30 seconds of airtime during Sunday’s game. In the hyper-competitive world of Super Bowl advertising, Anheuser-Busch’s USA Today win is a major score for the Fortune 500 company.
Anheuser-Busch ensured a strong showing this year by buying the most media time of any advertiser — a total of seven commercials, which the company says it culled from a field of 20 possible spots.
A record 97.5 million people watched 54 commercials at this year’s Super Bowl. The New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in 17-14 upset in the last seconds of the game.