Super Bowl Ad Rankings - Northwestern University Students Rank IRONMAN Movie Best and SalesGenie.com Worst in Super Bowl XLII

EVANSTON, Ill., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Graduate students at Northwestern University received over 50,000 website hits from Fox viewers during real-time polling of the 2008 Super Bowl XLII ads. Using a technology called MIMIEO, the students polled viewers from multiple channels simultaneously to include Facebook (PickMe application), mobile devices such as the Apple iPhone (AAPL), and the website www.VoteSuperBowlAds.com.

The students have released the EnMark Survey(TM) which evaluates advertisements on two key dimensions: entertainment value and marketing value. The entertainment score reflects the degree to which viewers like the advertisement. In contrast, the marketing score reflects the extent to which the ad influences viewers' perceptions of the advertised brand.

The survey also reports the vanity score of each ad, which is the difference between the entertainment and marketing scores. The vanity score reflects an excessive emphasis on creativity at the expense of building a preference for the advertised brand. An ad with a high vanity score is ranked as very entertaining while doing little to strengthen (and sometimes even hurting) the advertised brand. In contrast, a low vanity score indicates that the commercial is likely to strengthen viewers' preferences for the advertised brand even though the commercial itself is not perceived to be very entertaining.

Entertainment Score Rankings

Ads ranked based on their ability to entertain viewers. The top entertaining ads starting with best were: IRONMAN, Pepsi (Bob's House), Pepsi (Justin Timberlake), Bud Light (Wine and Cheese), Diet Pepsi Max, Budweiser (Team), Bud Light (Breathe Fire), Victoria's Secret, Audi (Godfather), and Doritos (Mouse Trap). The worst entertaining ads starting were: Sales Genie (Panda), Sales Genie (Plane), CareerBuilder.com (Firefly), and GMC (Yukon).

Marketing Score Rankings

Ads ranked based on their ability to influence viewers' perceptions of the advertised brand. The top marketing ads starting with best were: Coke (Charlie Brown), ETRADE (Banking Baby), Hyundai (Compared to Mercedes), Doritos (Mouse Trap), Bud Light (Language of Love, X-Ray Vision, Wine & Cheese), Victoria's Secret, Semi-Pro, and Life Water. The worst marketing ads were: Garmin (Napoleon), Sales Genie (Plane), CareerBuilder.com (Firefly), and Sales Genie (Panda).

Vanity Score Rankings

Ads based on their ability to balance entertainment and influence on brand perceptions. The ads which most effectively balanced entertainment and marketing starting with best were: IRONMAN, Audi (Godfather), Diet Pepsi Max, Pepsi (Bob's House), Bud Light (Breathe Fire), Pepsi (Justin Timberlake), Budweiser (Team), ETRADE (Banking Baby), and Bridgestone (Firestone). The least effective ads in terms of balancing entertainment and marketing were: GMC Yukon, Sales Genie (Plane), Cars.com (Witch Doctor), and Life Water.

The survey methodology was created in collaboration with students and faculty from Northwestern University of Evanston, Illinois.

Additional details regarding the EnMark Survey(TM) and the polling technology can be obtained by contacting glenn.allison@mimieo.com or calling 1-866-99-MIMIEO (1-866-996-4643). Thousands of real-time votes continue to be recorded on www.mimieo.com