Visible Measures Blog

In the last few years, we've seen hundreds of Super Bowl campaigns in online video, spanning all creative approaches, from taking advantage of celebrity affinities, to using sex appeal and humor. However, there's one thing the Top 10 most-watched Game Day campaigns have in common: compelling content. And we know that when a brand has compelling content, audiences return online to watch their favorite game day spot again and again. 

In anticipation of Super Bowl XLVII this Sunday, we've looked at the most successful Super Bowl brands ever in online video. The brands on this list innovate year over year, perfecting their online video game strategy. The top two brands, Volkswagen and Doritos, have online video viewership that more than doubles the next two brands on the list, which shows just how intense the competition for viewership is for Super Bowl brands.

With just two days to the Super Bowl and a barrage of 2012 Super Bowl ads already generating millions of social video views, we wanted to take a step back and provide some context for what's to come. There's no better way to compare the overall success of the new slate of ads than taking a look at the most-watched Super Bowl ads of all time. The complete list is below.

The Super Bowl is already starting to have its way with the Viral Video Chart.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- While many big marketers are keeping fingers crossed for viral buzz to follow their Super Bowl spots, which will air Sunday before an estimated 100 million eager viewers, a few brands are getting a head start in the viral video space -- one with big payoffs.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Last week Wieden & Kennedy's ad for Old Spice, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like," made the chart for the first time, and we wondered if it would have staying power. This week, our answer: Yes, the video toppled Doritos and took the top slot with more than 2.1 million views.

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Anheuser-Busch took the top spot last week with "Clothing Drive," an ad that never ran on TV but started to gain steam the week before the Super Bowl. The video, part of its "Office Bud Light" series, took more than 1.2 million views largely due to repeat user uploads on YouTube, even though the staff at Visible Measures, which compiles the viral chart, noticed that some versions had been taken down.