Anheuser-Busch Wins USA TODAY Ad Meter Title

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WASHINGTON /PRNewswire/ — Anheuser-Busch grabbed the top spot in USA TODAY’s Super Bowl Ad Meter.

The ad featuring two Dalmatians who are separated as puppies and reunited two years later was the most popular, according to USA TODAY’s Ad Meter. Volunteers gave the ad a score of 8.01 (on a scale of 0 to 10).

The ad was created by ad agency DDB Needham.

Anheuser-Busch had four of the top five and seven of the top 10 ads. They were the game’s biggest advertiser, airing nine spots during the game. For complete results, see today’s editions of USA TODAY.

The top five ads and each one’s rating:

1. Anheuser-Busch: Dalmatians get different jobs — 8.01

2. Anheuser-Busch: Lobster dodges death — 7.93

3. Anheuser-Busch: Frogs zap Louie — 7.90

4. Anheuser-Busch: Guys choose beer over toilet paper — 7.79

5. NFL Properties: NFL players thank fans — 7.74

USA TODAY’s eleventh annual Ad Meter was held in New York, N.Y., Los Angeles, Calif., and Chicago, Ill. during the Super Bowl on Jan. 31. Volunteers charted their second-by-second reactions to national Super Bowl commercials. The 150 volunteers used hand-held meters to register how much they liked or disliked an ad. A computer averaged the scores continuously.

Previous Ad Meter winners:

1998 — Pepsi: Flying Geese — 9.08

1997 — Pepsi: Dancing bears — 8.22

1996 — Pepsi: On security camera, Coke driver nabs Pepsi — 9.42

1995 — Pepsi: Boy gets sucked into bottle — 9.66

1994 — Pepsi: Chimp escapes lab, hits the beach — 9.34

1993 — McDonald’s: Jordan and Bird shoot hoops — 9.00

1992 — Nike: Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan team — 8.51

1991 — Diet Pepsi: Ray Charles’ new jingle catches on — 8.52

1990 — Nike: Famous announcers call imaginary game — 8.17

1989 — American Express: Dana Carvey and John Lovitz travel to the Super Bowl — 7.52.

USA TODAY is the nation’s top-selling newspaper. It is published via satellite at 33 locations in the USA and at three sites abroad. With a total average daily circulation of 2,237,159, USA TODAY is available worldwide.