USA TODAY, part of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), announced Rocket Mortgage’s “Certain Is Better – Tracy Morgan, Dave Bautista & Liza Koshy” was voted the winning commercial of USA TODAY’s 33rd Super Bowl Ad Meter, the premier gauge for public evaluation and opinion about Super Bowl advertisements. This marks the first time Rocket Mortgage has finished first in Ad Meter.
Rocket Mortgage’s winning commercial received the highest average rating in this year’s competition presented by Kia Motors. The commercial features actor and comedian Tracy Morgan, who goes on an uncertainty-filled montage to prove that “pretty sure” is never the way to go – especially if that involves deciding to fight actor and former professional wrestler David Bautista. Rocket Mortgage’s second ad, “Certain Is Better – Tracy Morgan & Joey Bosa,” had the second-highest rating, making the brand the first to claim the top two spots in USA TODAY’s Ad Meter competition since 2007.
Voting took place on the Ad Meter platform at admeter.usatoday.com starting on Wednesday, Feb. 3, and remained open until Monday, Feb. 8 at 1 a.m. ET. Registered panelists were required to rate every eligible national Super Bowl ad that aired between the coin toss through the end of the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter, including halftime, and the ad with the highest average rating was named the winner.
The top five ads, as rated by the 2021 Ad Meter panelists, are:
- Rocket Mortgage, “Certain Is Better – Tracy Morgan, Dave Bautista & Liza Koshy,” 7.38
- Rocket Mortgage, “Certain Is Better – Tracy Morgan & Joey Bosa,” 7.30
- Amazon, “Alexa’s Body,” 6.75
- M&M’S, “Come Together,” 6.73
- Toyota, “Upstream,” 6.71
“For some, the Super Bowl commercials are more important than the game, and USA TODAY’s Ad Meter program is a longstanding Super Bowl tradition that remains the gold standard for measuring consumer opinions about the big game’s ads,” said Chris Pirrone, VP and General Manager, USA TODAY Sports Media Group. “Congratulations to Rocket Mortgage for producing a message that really resonated with audiences and earned the top spot for 2021.”
Following the conclusion of Ad Meter, USA TODAY Sports is launching Replay Ratings sponsored by Verizon as another measurement tool for superlative categories that will name commercials as the most comical, inspiring, heartwarming, nostalgic, as well as the best teaser. Voting begins today, Monday, Feb. 8, and will officially close on Thursday, Feb. 11.
USA TODAY will be hosting “Ad Meter Live” today at noon ET. The video show hosted by USA TODAY’s Ralphie Aversa, host of USA TODAY’s Entertain This!, will feature industry experts, including Adweek’s Editor-in-Chief, Stephanie Paterik, and USA TODAY National Sports Columnist Nancy Armour for commentary on the commercials and Ad Meter results.
Visit admeter.usatoday.com to see the full 2021 Ad Meter results and to view previous Ad Meter winners and ratings.
