Canada’s Hottest Ads: Sodas chase away February blahs

Sport Chek unboxes, and zombies infest New York

There are a few Super Bowl ads left over from January on the latest YouTube Canada Ads Leaderboard. Heck, the top spot is Microsoft’s big game day spectacle. But February was really the Coke and Pepsi show – three of the 10 most-watched ads on YouTube were for the competing cola brands. One of them even reached the number three spot despite being posted on Feb. 27 and having only two days to rack up views eligible for the list.

A look at the full ranking reveals a couple of pranks (Pepsi Max and AMC), a few aspirational spots about breaking boundaries (Chrysler, Coke, Pepsi Max again and Hennessey), one amusing airline safety video (Air New Zealand) and a tearjerker (Schwarzkopf) – pretty much the entirety of the internet encapsulated in one list (minus the kittehs, obviously).

Sadly, there was only one Canadian entry on February’s ranking: Sport Chek and its PR partner North Strategic, which brought Unbox Therapy to the new retail store in Edmonton for an “unboxing” video.

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.

1. Microsoft 2014 Super Bowl Commercial: Empowering

)
Microsoft and StarcomMediaVest
Published Feb. 2 by Microsoft

2. Official Coca-Cola “Big Game” Commercial 2014 – America Is Beautiful

)
Coca-Cola, Wieden & Kennedy and Starcom MediaVest
Published Feb. 2 by Coca-Cola

3. Pepsi MAX & Jeff Gordon Present: “Test Drive 2”

)
Pepsi, Davie Brown Entertainment/The Marketing Arm and OMD
Published Feb. 27 by Pepsi

4. You – A Declaration of Love by Schwarzkopf Nectra Color

)
Schwarzkopf, BBDO Proximity, MEC and Quisma
Published Feb. 7 by Schwarzkopf

5. OFFICIAL Chrysler and Bob Dylan Super Bowl Commercial 2014 – America’s Import

)
Chrysler, Global Hue and Universal McCann
Published Feb. 2 by Chrysler

6. The World’s Largest Unboxing Video

)
Sport Chek, unboxtherapy and North Strategic
Published Feb. 5 on unboxtherapy

7. Human Loop the Loop with Damien Walters – Pepsi Max. Unbelievable #LiveForNow

)
Pepsi Max and AMVBBDO
Published Feb. 19 by Pepsi Max UK

8. World’s Fastest: 270.49 mph Hennessey Venom GT

)
hpedesign, Hennessey and Penzoil
Published Feb. 24 by hpedesign

9. The Walking Dead Zombies Prank NYC

)
AMC and Relevant
Published Feb. 5 by AMC

10. Safety in Paradise #airnzsafetyvideo

)
Air New Zealand and OMD NZ
Published Feb. 11 by Air New Zealand

YouTube Canada Ads Leaderboard
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
• July 2013
June 2013

Brands Articles

30 Under 30 is back with a new name, new outlook

No more age limit! The New Establishment brings 30 Under 30 in a new direction, starting with media professionals.

Diageo’s ‘Crown on the House’ brings tasting home

After Johnnie Walker success, Crown Royal gets in-home mentorship

Survey says Starbucks has best holiday cup

Consumers take sides on another front of Canada's coffee war

KitchenAid embraces social for breast cancer campaign

Annual charitable campaign taps influencers and the social web for the first time

Heart & Stroke proclaims a big change

New campaign unveils first brand renovation in 60 years

Best Buy makes you feel like a kid again

The Union-built holiday campaign drops the product shots

Volkswagen bets on tech in crisis recovery

Execs want battery-powered cars, ride-sharing to 'fundamentally change' automaker

Simple strategies for analytics success

Heeding the 80-20 rule, metrics that matter and changing customer behaviors

Why IKEA is playing it up downstairs

Inside the retailer's Market Hall strategy to make more Canadians fans of its designs