What Is This “Football” You Speak Of? Survey Says 91% Of Consumers Excited For Super Bowl Ads

You’ve got your chicken wings ready, the remote has fresh batteries and the perfect spot is staked out on the couch. Does it even matter that there will be a football game airing during the Super Bowl, or are you just excited to see the ads? A new survey says 91% of consumers gearing up for the big day are also pumped about seeing the commercials.

Nielsen rolled out some fun facts ahead of this year’s Super Bowl (which is Sunday, for those who really don’t give two figs) and found that funny commercials are the big winners, ranking highest in the survey at 81%.

There are some who like tear-jerkers too, with 25% looking forward to sentimental ads. Repeat advertisers have some pressure to perform again, as 26% are excited to see products they’ve seen in previous Super Bowl ads.

“The results of the survey tell us that consumers consider ads to be part of the main event rather than an adjunct to the event,” said James Russo, senior vice president of global insights at Nielsen.

Translation: We all know we like the commercials — and inevitably, end up being disappointed by many of them — and now there are numbers to back that up.

Another thing of note that Nielsen found is the increasing importance of social media in the watching experience. The survey found 18% of consumers are planning on chatting about the ads during and after the event on Twitter and Facebook.

And hey, take this, Taco Bell: Salty snacks are in the top 10 snacks we’re planning to nosh on, but vegetables and fresh fruit/salad are also on the menu with 36% and 27% planning on those snacks respectively.

Tweets, Spots and Carrot Sticks: the Modern Super Bowl [Nielsen]

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