LOS ANGELES, CA, Jan. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ace Metrix, the leader in measuring video advertising effectiveness, today released its roundup of 2020’s stand out ads. Out of dozens of measures for creative effectiveness, Ace Metrix recognized the Most Empowering, Funniest and Top Breakthrough.
“2020 was obviously a unique and unforgettable year and advertising reflected these social disruptions and challenges. Our ability to measure all ads, quickly, gave us a unique perspective on consumer reactions and trends as the pandemic hit, civil unrest exploded, and massive disruption brought out the best and worst in us” said Peter Daboll, Ace Metrix CEO.
Daboll continued, “These ads reflect the best work from brands that chose to continue to communicate with viewers in a highly unpredictable environment. They took risks, and had varying strategies from the inspiring, to the more light hearted but were simply the most effective overall.”
With nearly 9,000 ads analyzed in 2020, the following distinguished themselves by achieving the highest scores on each respective metric.
2020’s Most Empowering Ads
Measuring positive Cultural Perception, the Empower score indicates when an ad’s purpose-driven message inspires, encourages or motivates viewers. All of the ads on this list scored in the highest band of signal, “Extreme,” achieving Empower levels on par with the top 0.08% of ads.
Learn more about the state of Empowering ads in 2020, here.
| Brand | Air Date | Length | Ad Title |
| T-Mobile | 10/7/20 | 0:30 | MLB Little League Grant |
| Frito-Lay | 4/9/20 | 1:00 | It’s About People |
| Dick's Sporting Goods | 12/1/20 | 0:30 | Co-Op City Tennis |
| Tide | 9/14/20 | 0:30 | Uplifting Hopes |
| Wells Fargo | 8/24/20 | 0:30 | Unthinkable |
| Verizon | 3/23/20 | 0:30 | Pay it Forward |
| T-Mobile | 10/19/20 | 0:30 | MLB Little League Grant: World Series |
| PGA Tour | 1/29/20 | 0:30 | Great Moments |
| Mercedes-Benz | 5/11/20 | 1:00 | Be The Best |
| Wells Fargo | 9/17/20 | 1:00 | Play Your Part |
| Walmart | 12/23/20 | 0:30 | Fight Hunger |
2020’s Funniest Ads
From Super Bowl LIV spots jam packed with hilarious celebrities to ads that crack jokes about the overall state of 2020, this list is bound to make anyone chuckle. Rankings were determined by Ace Metrix’s Funny metric, which quantifies the level of humor in ads based on viewer verbatim comments using NLP and machine learning techniques.
Snickers had the only ad that broke into the Rare band of signal last year, an impressive feat achieved by just 0.12% of all ads.
Learn more about the state of Funny ads in 2020, here.
| Rank | Brand | Air Date | Length | Ad Title | Funny Score |
| 1 | Snickers | 8/9/20 | 0:15 | First Visitors | 9 |
| 2 | Cheetos | 2/2/20 | 0:30 | Can't Touch This | 8.4 |
| 3 | Match.com | 12/2/20 | 1:30 | Match Made in Hell | 8.2 |
| 3 | Little Caesars | 1/28/20 | 1:00 | Best Thing Since Sliced Bread | 8.1 |
| 4 | Doritos | 2/2/20 | 1:00 | The Cool Ranch | 8 |
| 6 | Greenies | 11/22/20 | 0:15 | Better Treat | 7.9 |
| 7 | Michelob Ultra | 2/2/20 | 1:00 | Jimmy Works It Out | 7.5 |
| 8 | Reese's | 2/2/20 | 0:30 | Rock | 7.5 |
| 9 | Wonderful Pistachios | 2/15/20 | 0:15 | Say No | 7.5 |
| 10 | Twix | 1/26/20 | 0:30 | In Case of Emergency | 7.5 |
*Breakthrough used as tie-breaker for 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th
2020’s Top Breakthrough Ads
The top Breakthrough ads are those that scored highest on Ace Metrix’s Attention and Likeability components compared to the average ad in their respective categories. Taking 2020 category norms into consideration was important when evaluating all ads across industries as some brands benefit from inherently Attention-grabbing and Likeable products (eg. QSR vs. Life Insurance brands).
Learn more about 2020’s Top Breakthrough ads, here.
| Rank | Brand | Air Date | Length | Ad Title | Breakthrough Score |
| 1 | Capital One | 11/20/20 | 1:00 | Instant Search | +199 |
| 2 | 3/31/20 | 1:00 | Thank You Healthcare Workers | +190 | |
| 3 | Budweiser | 5/22/20 | 1:20 | Take Two Minutes | +189 |
| 4 | Budweiser | 7/7/20 | 1:00 | Reunited With Buds | +183 |
| 5 | Kohl's | 10/30/20 | 1:30 | Give With All Your Heart | +181 |
| 6 | Petsmart | 6/7/20 | 0:30 | The Promise | +179 |
| 7 | Lego | 9/20/20 | 0:30 | Game On | +178 |
| 8 (tie) | Truist | 8/13/20 | 0:30 | Meet Sam | +176 |
| 8 (tie) | Petsmart | 9/13/20 | 0:30 | Make A Friend | +176 |
| 9 | Jeep | 2/2/20 | 1:00 | Groundhog Day | +169 |
Note: +/- 25 points is statistically significant
Visit the Ace Metrix Site for more insights behind 2020’s top performing ads.
About Ace Metrix Inc.
Ace Metrix measures ad creative effectiveness based on viewer reaction to video ads, providing the advertising industry an unbiased resource to measure creative impact. Ace Metrix scores every national television and digital ad across 115 categories creating a complete comparative database of over 100,000 video ads—Ace Metrix LIVE®. A unique panel of at least 500 consumers, demographically balanced to the U.S. census, scores each ad in the exact same manner. The results are presented on a scale of 1–950, which represents scoring on creative attributes such as Attention, Likeability, Information, Change, Relevance, Desire and Watchability. Ace Metrix applies a natural language processing algorithm to the hundreds of qualitative verbatim responses collected for each ad, deriving additional metrics related to emotional and cultural engagement.
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Note: Ace Metrix®, the Ace Metrix logo design, Ace Score®, Ace Metrix LIVE® and Creative Lifecycle Management® are registered trademarks of Ace Metrix. Other trademarks are property of their respective owners.