The real Super Bowl winner: Brands that scored big with audiences

At Miami's Sun Life Stadium on Sunday night, the winner of the much anticipated Super Bowl final was the New Orleans Saints who took the title with a final score of 31-17.

During the advertisement breaks however, Budweiser reigned king.

Every year, American research company HCD Research hosts a national market research study of the effectiveness and likeability of Super Bowl ads on their website MediaCurves.com.

Participants of the study evaluates the ads shortly after they air during the game and the result is a measurement of real-time interest levels. The overall score is calculated using a combination of factors include interest levels, emotions evoked and the 'water cooler' effect which measures the likelihood of participants talking about the ad the next day around the water cooler.

According to the research results, Budweiser's Bull advertisement, showing the bond created between a calf and a horse lasting over three years, generated the most interest with a final score of 72.7. Following closely behind is Snickers' Betty White ad with 70.9 and Denny's Free Grand Slam ad with 67.1.

The top five is rounded off by Doritos' Hand Free advert with a final score of 66.8 and FLO TV's Generation advert with 66.

Click here to watch this year's ads and accompanying real-time interest levels represented by the overlaying red line for each ad.

According to MediaCurves.com, this year's top five ads scored statistically lower than the top five ads from the previous two years. Glenn Kessler, president and CEO of HCD Research, said: “The steady decline in ad scores suggests that viewers’ attitudes may be somewhat jaded as a result of the sluggish economy. In addition, creative treatments and production values may have been comprised due to budget constraints.”

Don't miss our review of the Super Bowl 2010 ads in the upcoming 11 February 2010 issue of Media.