World may join Superbowl ad voting, as Facebook and USA Today do a deal
Facebook and USA Today are getting together next February to help choose the best TV ad at America's biggest single sporting event. And the whole planet looks set to join in.
Consumers worldwide will be able to view and vote on the ads on the American Superbowl, being played in Indiana, see how other people rank the ads and share their favorites with Facebook friends.
The USA TODAY Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter consumer rating will take place via an app hosted on Facebook and USATODAY.com,. The app will allow consumers to view the ads both online and via mobile, rate the ads and share them with their friends.
The new plan get round the complaint that in the past TV ads in Canada , for example have been replaced with local ads. The only thing that Facebookers in Europe will have to contend with is the five to six-hour time difference.
The winner of the USA TODAY Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter will be announced after the online voting period. In addition, the traditional focus group of viewers will also rate the ads during the game in a controlled environment and those results will be shared with the public after the game ends.
The Super Bowl Ad Meter was created by USA Today in 1989 after more and more people started talking about the Super Bowl Ads. Last February 30-second spots cost an average of $3 million for air time alone.
The idea of the Ad Meter was to track the second-by-second responses of the panel of viewers to ads during the Super Bowl and rank them from best to worst.
Ad Meter results have long been the industry-leading tool used to measure public opinion surrounding the ads.
Mike Hoefflinger, director of global business marketing at Facebook, said: “The creation of the USA Today – Facebook Super Bowl Ad Meter is going to give millions of people the ability to not only interact with the various Super Bowl commercials - but to rate the ads and share with their friends on Facebook. "
David Payne, senior vice president and chief digital officer of USA Today's owners the Gannett Co said ,“The impact and influence of Ad Meter over the years has been astounding. Through this partnership with Facebook we’re giving consumers a voice with the opportunity to rate and share the ads with their friends.
"Social media is changing the face of consumer engagement and this partnership more than ever, puts the consumer at the center of the conversation around advertising’s biggest annual event.”
Here are the two ads - Bud Light and Doritos - that tied for top spot this year: