AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -
Heading into Super Bowl XLV this past weekend, Chrysler said it kept its new ad with Eminem for the 2011 Chrysler 200 under wraps so that it would generate a stronger response.
The commercial appears to have achieved exactly that, according to industry analysis, although one particular survey said the rap song-infused spot created some confusion among shoppers.
Chrysler’s spot starring the popular rapper was just one of several auto ads that resonated with Super Bowl viewers. Commercials from Volkswagen, Kia, Chevrolet and many others created some waves — and an uptick in online-shopping traffic — among consumers. Here is a look at a few of them, starting with Chrysler’s.
‘Born of Fire’
The Chrysler brand’s “Born of Fire” commercial blends shots of Eminem driving the new 200 with shots of the hometown that the automaker and rap star share: Detroit.

The rapper’s song “Lose Yourself” — a tune about refusing to lose and overcoming struggles — is heard in the background of the commercial, which drives home a message centered on the solidarity between Chrysler and Detroit and their respective battles to make a rebound.

“The Chrysler brand, the company and its employees have adopted the principle that failure is not an option,” said Olivier Francois, lead executive for marketing at Chrysler Group and the president and chief executive officer for the Chrysler brand.
“Chrysler’s ad reaffirmed the company’s loyalties to Detroit in an emotionally powerful way, and it looks like viewers responded to that message,” noted Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for AutoObserver.com site, which is in the Edmunds.com family.
Just consider the numbers.
Edmunds.com said Chrysler brand’s traffic saw a 267-percent uptick just hours following the commercial. Traffic for the 200 model jumped 1,619 percent.
Kelley Blue Book’s Kbb.com said that its traffic for the 200 showed a 1,013-percent increase, making it the biggest attention-grabber.
Not only that, the Chrysler brand enjoyed the largest traffic surge on Kbb.com, as it climbed 213 percent.
“The Green Bay Packers aren’t the only winners coming out of the great Midwest this year; Chrysler stole the show in terms of model-specific buzz from its all-new ‘Imported from Detroit’ ad for the 200,” said Jack Nerad, executive editorial director and executive market analyst for Kbb.com.
But was the spot perplexing? Data from auto research site PSCars.com seems to suggest as much.
The site surveyed approximately 2,000 registered site users about the nine automotive Super Bowl ads. Most of the respondents were people between the ages of 21 and 55 who had browsed two or three models on the site and had intentions to buy or lease between now and two-to-four months out, officials explained.
The questions did not deal with commercials involving Cars.com, CarMax or Bridgestone.
What PSCars.com found is that more than three-fourths (76 percent) found the Chrysler/Eminem spot to be confusing.
VW, Others Gain Traction
Continuing on, Chrysler wasn’t the only auto brand to generate a strong response through Super Bowl advertising. In fact, KBB suggested that Volkswagen’s ad for its Passat model — which included a tot in Darth Vader regalia — was America’s “favorite” auto commercial.
Not only that, “The Force” commercial helped push Kbb.com traffic for the Passat to a 229-percent hike.
Another model from VW that was advertised during the Super Bowl — the New Beetle — also experienced a major traffic spike on the site at an upswing of 293-percent.
Moreover, more consumers voted VW as having their favorite commercials (30 percent) than any other brand in a Kbb.com home page quick poll taken Sunday and Monday. Chrysler came in second (20 percent).
Similarly, traffic for the Beetle climbed 271 percent on Edmunds.com. The Passat ad resulted in a 114-percent uptick on the same site, Edmunds indicated.
Chevy Makes Strides
In addition to the traffic generated by VW and Chrysler, Edmunds also pointed to the traction gained by Chevrolet, whose post-game traffic climbed 21 percent.
Looking at some of Chevy’s models, there was a more than 69-percent jump for the Camaro’s traffic on Edmunds.com, while the Cruze showed a more than 63-percent rise.
Traffic for the Volt moved ahead 15 percent.
Additionally, the Camaro (up 207 percent) and Volt (up 202 percent) showed significant gains in Kbb.com activity.
Hyundai, Kia Gain Ground
Meanwhile, Edmunds.com traffic for the Hyundai Elantra — which was featured in two spots — climbed 79 percent. However, Hyundai’s spot for the Sonata Hybrid only resulted in an uptick of more than 4 percent.
The survey from PSCars.com found that almost a quarter of shoppers looking at compact cars (23 percent) put the Elantra on their respective consideration lists.
That survey also found that Hyundai and VW were successful in creating memorable commercials, as about three-fourths (71 percent)  of consumers claimed they remembered the ads from these two brands.
Hyundai also fared well on Kbb.com, as its traffic surged 135 percent on the site, good for fourth behind Chrysler (up 214 percent), Mini (up 152 percent) and BMW (up 136 percent). Audi rounded out the Kbb.com top five with a 131-percent uptick.
The Elantra also posted a 270-percent activity hike on Kbb.com, putting it third behind the 200 and New Beetle.
Moving over to Kia, it cited some data from Reprise Media regarding the search traffic generated by its “One Epic Ride” commercial that debuted Friday on the Web. This commercial led to a 700-percent uptick in search activity for the automaker, the data indicated.
Kia also rolled out “One Epic Contest,” which it said had quite a response, as well.
Furthermore, the automaker and SocialVibe teamed up in spreading the word about the Optima. In the promotion, Kia served as the sole auto sponsor for the “Big Game Tournament,” which was a virtual football contest from Zynga for social-media gamers.  
“With ‘One Epic Contest’ we challenged consumers to use their wits to locate clues and solve a series of puzzles before, during and after the Super Bowl for the chance to win one of five new Optimas and people responded in a big way,” said KMA vice president of marketing and communications Michael Sprague.
“Engaging enthusiastic consumers was a cornerstone of our Super Bowl marketing strategy and it’s clear with more than 30,000 gamers registered for ‘One Epic Contest’ and more than 450,000 views of the ad on YouTube, that this approach exceeded our expectations,” Sprague added.
Mixed Results for Luxury?
Finally, analysts delved into some trends spotted for luxury makes.
Edmunds.com suggested that these brands’ Super Bowl ads were “less successful” than those of heir non-luxury counterparts in terms of boosting activity. The Audi “Release the Hounds” commercial generated a 14-percent uptick for the Audi A8, according to analysis of Edmunds Web traffic.
The BMW “Defying Logic” ad spotlighting its X3 generated “no lift at all for BMW” on the site.
PSCars.com said that only a third of women remembered the aforementioned Audi ad and even fewer men (18 percent) said the same.
That said, BMW and Audi, however, were counted among the five brands that saw the greatest Kbb.com traffic gains, as cited earlier.