A Hyundai Motor commercial has been picked as the favorite advertisement aired during the U.S most-watched sporting event Super Bowl 50, the automaker said Wednesday.

The commercial, “First Date,” which features the Korean automaker’s Genesis sedan, ranked first in a poll conducted by USA TODAY, a national American daily.

Hyundai Motor said that it is the first foreign automaker in decades to emerge top in USA TODAY’s Ad Meter, beating 63 other Super Bowl 50 commercials. 


The 60-second spot, featuring American comedian and actor Kevin Hart, highlights the cutting-edge auto technologies of Hyundai’s premium Genesis sedan.

The commercial scored an average of 6.91 with 10 being the highest score in the survey which is recognized as the leading indicator of Super Bowl spot popularity.

Hyundai had four commercials that were aired during the game, three of which made it into the top six popular ads aired during Super Bowl, which attracted some 111.9 million viewers in the U.S. alone.

The automaker’s other two ads “Ryanville” and “The Chase” ranked fifth and sixth place respectively.

“On the biggest advertising day of the year, we wanted to entertain Super Bowl fans with creative storytelling and relevant, popular celebrities, while showcasing the innovative technology features of our vehicles. Our formula clearly resonated with the thousands of Ad Meter voters,” said Dean Evans, chief marketing officer, Hyundai Motor America, in a press release.

While Hyundai declined to disclose the total cost of its ads in the February Super Bowl 50 broadcast, industry insiders estimated that the carmaker paid some $15 million for the four spots.

For 28 consecutive years, USA TODAY’s poll has stood as a gauge of advertising success. This year, nearly 20,000 preregistered panelists from across the country weighed in, the company said.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)