An ad featuring cute but unlikely animal friends has scored a major win for Google Android, whose “Friends Furever” campaign has been named the most shared ad of 2015 – and all time.
With the tagline “Be together, not the same”, the ad has now been shared 6.4 million times on Facebook, Twitter and in the blogosphere since its launch in February, according to data from video ad tech company, Unruly.
Demonstrating that cheap and cheerful can reap rich rewards, the ad features a succession of short home-made clips of unlikely and amusing animal pairings and collaborations, such as a sheep and an elephant digging a hole, an orangutan trying to hug a dog, and a monkey climbing a horse.
It joins other spots by Disney, Purina, Roc and Budweiser in the top 5 and beat out its nearest competitor – Disney's “Surprise Shoppers” ad – by a landslide, with almost 50% more shares.
The Google spot also eclipsed the number of shares attracted by last year's top ad, Activia's World Cup ad, “La, La, La”, which was shared 6.09 million times since its 2014 launch.
Data was collected from January 1, 2015, to November 16 and is based solely on shares across social media, not on views.
Overall, 2015 saw a major rise in social media ad shares over the previous year, with this year's top 20 ads attracting 40.2 million, or 38.5% more, shares than last year's.
Unruly’s Australia MD Lance Traore said: “We’ve been collecting and analysing consumer data on video consumption and sharing patterns since 2006 and one of the key drivers to video shareability is emotional intensity - how an ad makes a person feel.
“From the joy you feel when your pup welcomes you home to nostalgic memories of your childhood pet, animals can tap into a wide range of emotions that have broad appeal. By placing the focus on friendship and shared experiences, advertisers in 2015 have successfully used dogs, cats and other furry friends to provoke strong feelings of warmth and well-being.”
The Ad Council’s “Love Has No Labels” (6th place, with 2.7 million shares), aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion, is one of eight campaigns supporting good causes to also make it into this year’s top 20.
Unruly Co-CEO and co-founder Sarah Wood said 2015 was a highly emotional year for video ads and advertisers aligning themselves with social causes.
“It’s not that Adland has lost its sense of humour this year; it’s just that it’s found a sense of higher purpose,” she said.
Wood predicted that 2016 will be a year in which advertisers will focus more on exhilarating consumers over provoking emotion.
“With its deluge of superhero, war and zombie flicks - from Batman v Superman to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - being released in 2016, we can expect marketers to follow Hollywood with similar themes. Going into a quadrennial year of Olympics, European Championships and Presidential elections, the competition for consumer attention will be fierce and consumers will be looking for superhero brands to exhilarate and entertain them in 2016.”
Unruly’s most shared ads of 2015
1. Android - “Friends Furever” - 6,432,921 shares
2. Disney - “Disney Characters Surprise Shoppers” - 3,943,997
3. Purina - “This Man Found His Soulmate In A Puppy And It’s Adorable” - 3,021,499
4. Roc by Ronaldo / Monster - “Cristiano Ronaldo - People are going to think I’m crazy!” - 2,995,849
5. Budweiser - Super Bowl Commercial “Lost Dog” - 2,808,541
6. Ad Council - “Diversity & Inclusion - Love Has No Labels” - 2,743,138
7. Zorba - “Maya” - 2,634,706
8. Fanpage.it - “Slap her”: children’s reactions - 2,365,612
9. Microsoft - “Robert Downey Jr. Delivers a Real Bionic Arm” - 2,119,279
10. Kleenex - “Unlikely Best Friends” - 2,027,213
11. Metlife - “My dad's story": Dream for My Child” - 1,497,418
12. Pandora - “The unique connection” - 1,157,824
13. DC Shoes - “Robbie Maddison’s Pipe Dream” - 1,058,149
14. Supercell - “Clash of Clans: Revenge” - 1,005,673
15. Red Nose Day - “Coldplay’s Game of Thrones: The Musical” - 998,762
16. adidas: “Create Your Own Game” - 779,019
17. John Lewis - “#ManontheMoon” - 693,343
18. adidas - “Unfollow ft Leo Messi” - 681,645
19. Sainsbury’s - “Mog’s Christmas Calamity” - 629,720
20. adidas: “Yesterday Is Gone” - 625,545
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