It might be the first year that Canadians will be seeing American commercial programming during the Super Bowl LI’s simulcast from NRG Stadium in Houston, but many will already be watching the much-hyped ads on YouTube before, during, and after the big game.
Taking the two-screen viewing experience to an extreme is a Canadian habit during the Super Bowl, according to Google. As anyone that’s been to a Super Bowl party can tell you, there are many people more interested in the ads than they are in the game. A look at some Google Trends comparisons will demonstrate that quantitatively.
Searches for “Super Bowl commercials” in Canada were competitive with searches for both the teams competing to wear the rings – the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. Searches for commercials even peaked above both teams on Jan. 31, and have been close to tying the Falcons over the last two days. Canadians have also been more likely than Americans to search for “Super Bowl commercials” on YouTube for the past five years.
Last year, Canadians watched 840 million minutes of Super Bowl ads on YouTube, more than twice the number that watched in 2014, according to Google. More than 40 per cent of the total watch time came after the big game in 2015, illustrating just how far the event continued to live on after Super Bowl Sunday.
As to who Canadians are cheering for, Google searches for the New England Patriots are well ahead of those for the Atlanta Falcons. But whether that indicates fan allegiance is questionable, as part of the curiosity seems to be driven by a large coat that Tom Brady wore while on the sidelines of the AFC championship game.
5 Super Bowl commercials in tech
Some of the early YouTube commercials and teasers have a tech twist.
Ford gives a glimpse at what a self-driving car of the future might look like.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhtHflDrnAU
Web hosting company GoDaddy has cats on Roombas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mao8hwr1Tsw
Website building tool Wix depicts a chef inspired by Jason Statham and Gal Gadot.
Squarespace features actor John Malkovich upset about a domain name squatter.
While smartphone game Mobile Strike has an ad starring – you guessed it – Arnold Schwarzenegger.
