Unruly Global Ads Chart: Budweiser’s Brotherhood Canters To Top Spot

Beer brand’s Super Bowl spot is most shared ad during February.

Super Bowl ads dominate February’s Global Ads Chart, powered by Unruly. Altogether, nine of the top 20 most shared ads across the social web come from official game sponsors.

It’s hardly surprising. The winners’ trophy may be pride and place on the Baltimore Ravens’ mantelpiece after their victory over the San Francisco 49ers on February 3, but for brands the battle for the Super Bowl still goes on.

With the cost of a single 30-second in-game spot now north of $4 million, it’s only natural that advertisers are desperate to make the most of their massive investments in the sporting spectacle.

And thanks to the longevity of social video advertising, there’s a lot more opportunity for brands to claim victory during overtime. Incredibly, over half (55%) of the video shares from Super Bowl 2012 occurred a month after Super Sunday.

It means that brands are no longer looking to be the talk of the Monday water-cooler the day after the big game – they want to dominate the online conversation in the months to come.

Leading the charge in 2013 is Budweiser’s ‘Brotherhood’. A moving tale of a bond that develops between a horse and its trainer, it attracted an incredible 2.43 million shares during February, making it not only the most shared commercial of last month, but also the second most popular Super Bowl ad of all time.

It follows the growth of a Clydesdale foal from its first unsteady steps to the day it leads the brewery’s iconic team on parade. The companionship between horse and human is palpable, so seeing them separated by service to the brand is bittersweet.

Of course, there is a touching reunion to the sweet strains of Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide – a moment that has reportedly reduced some viewers to tears.

In second spot is another Super Bowl ad which has really tugged at American heartstrings – Ram Trucks’ ‘So God Made A Farmer’. The commercial for the Chrysler-owned brand, which features a lengthy tribute to America’s farmers by the late radio commentator Paul Harvey over gripping photos of their lives, has certainly struck a chord among its target audience.

So much so, it attracted a staggering 821,566 shares last month, despite breaking all the Super Bowl social video rules by deciding to not release a pre-game teaser in the run-up to Super Sunday and not launching their game day ad online until the day of the big game.

However, not everyone is happy with it, with some criticising the ad for not representing ethnic minorities, prompting this spoof video in response.

It is not the only Super Bowl ad in the top 20 to attract controversy. Jeep, in ninth, also attracted some criticism for using the armed forces in its ‘Whole Again’ ad, while VW’s sixth-placed ‘Get In, Get Happy’ was lambasted by some critics for depicting a white guy from Minnesota with a Jamaican patois accent.

Other Super Bowl commercials to appear in the top 20 are Mercedes’s entertaining ‘Soul’, Kia’s super-cute ‘Space Babies’ and Taco Bell’s hilarious ‘Viva Young’.

But last month was not all about the Super Bowl. Posing proudly in third spot is an H&M video directed by Guy Richie and starring a half-naked David Beckham. Actually, that should read ‘starring David Beckham’s bottom’ as most of the ad is filmed from behind.

The video features the soccer superstar tearing through neighbours’ gardens to try and catch up with the family Range Rover after getting his dressing gown trapped in the door on the drive.

The ad ran and leapt its way to 717,301 shares during February, putting it one place ahead of Google’s latest video preview of its exciting augmented reality headset, Project Glass.

Named ‘How It Feels [Through Glass]’, the new preview video from the search engine giant takes a look at just a few of the possible uses of the new headgear – admittedly, some more bizarre than others.

These include filming yourself skydiving, doing ballet, playing with snakes and hitting other people with sticks, and live streaming it to your friends and family.

You can also use Google Maps or take pictures on the move without having to quickly dig your phone or camera out of your pocket at any given moment.

Had a delicious Thai meal and want to thank the waiter in his native tongue? It can even do that, without the need to embarrass yourself by thumbing your way through a Thai-English dictionary. Pretty cool, or “Khá mát mẻ”, as they say in Thailand.

So how do you get your hands on a pair? Well, although neither the release date or price have been released yet, current web wisdom suggests we could see the new headgear as early as May, at developer event Google I/O, which would lead to shop-floor sales in 2014.

Other ads to feature in the top include a video featuring technology wizards Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Jack Dorsey for code.org, a new website that aims to help kids (and adults) find computer coding classes near them as well, Heineken’s job interview from hell and a smart (but mean) prank by Nivea played on some unsuspecting German air travellers.

Top 20 most shared ads during February

1. Budweiser – The Clydesdales: Brotherhood – 2,426,244 shares

2. Ram Trucks: Farmer – 821,566 shares

3. H&M: Short film directed by Guy Ritchie starring David Beckham – 717,301 shares

4. Google: How It Feels [through Glass] – 481,653 shares

5. Code.org: What most schools don’t teach – 472,215 shares

6. Volkswagen: Get In. Get Happy – 341,205 shares

7. GEICO: Dikembe Mutombo Commercial – 244,762 shares

8. Shortline Dental: Toothache? Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That – 243,402 shares

9. Jeep: Whole Again – 199,783 shares

10. Nivea: Stresstest – 184,771 shares

11. Taco Bell: Viva Young – 180,039 shares