Canada’s Hottest Ads: Sports and Sequels reign in April

In the film world, sequels are usually a let down. Not so much in ad land. In April two of the most popular ads on YouTube were follow ups to successful campaigns. In the top spot: Dove’s “Patches,” the latest in the brand’s long line of feel-good “Real Beauty” videos. By Ogilvy & Mather Brazil, […]

June 05, 2014

In the film world, sequels are usually a let down. Not so much in ad land. In April two of the most popular ads on YouTube were follow ups to successful campaigns.

In the top spot: Dove’s “Patches,” the latest in the brand’s long line of feel-good “Real Beauty” videos. By Ogilvy & Mather Brazil, the spot pulled in over 20 million views globally and was equally popular in Canada, where the brand has previously put a local spin on Real Beauty.

Another sequel, Evian’s Spider-Baby spot, came in at number three, proving that providing more of what’s working is a winning strategy.

Sports stars reigned over much of the rest of the list, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, two soccer (forgive us, FIFA) heroes who star in Nike Football’s glossy spot, “Winner Stays,” which came in at number four.

On Canada’s home turf, the Toronto Raptors’ anthemic #WeTheNorth spot – the team’s first big push since selecting Sid Lee as its agency – took the number six spot. Don’t worry, though, hockey loyalists, Canada hasn’t folded to basketball and soccer just yet. Can-Am Spyder’s spot with hockey legend Mark Messier slid into the top five, earning almost one million views.

Note: This ranking indicates which ads were most-watched within Canada. To be included on this ranking, a video must be listed as an ad on YouTube. While Google does not make Canadian viewer statistics available, it determines this ranking with a process that accounts for paid and organic views and how much of a given video viewers watch.