Volkswagen's controversial 'Get Happy' Super Bowl campaign has been regarded the most popular car ad on a social sense, with the #GetHappy Super Bowl hashtag the fourth most popular overall.
Volkswagen was the most tweeted automotive hashtag, behind campaigns from GoDaddy, Calvin Klein and Doritos.
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The second most popular social auto campaign was Toyota's #wishgranted commercial, which sees a genie appear from a Toyota RAV4 to wreak havoc on the world.
Audi's #braverywins campaign was third most popular, with Hyundai's #pickyourteam the final automotive campaign in the top 20.
Analysis by online marketing company Sysomos suggests that viewers used hashtags on Twitter to tweet about the brand as opposed to the actual content of the commercial.
Volkswagen has a history of performing well with its Super Bowl advertisements. The manufacturer's 'The Force' campaign is widely regarded as the most shared automotive commercial of all time.
The Volkswagen Passat ad, which first aired during the 2011 Super Bowl, won fans over with its child star - dressed as Darth Vader - trying to move motors with the mystical power.
At the time The Force was attributed to a 127 per cent leap in traffic to the Volkswagen site, helping to shift an additional 20,902 Passats.
Traffic figures for the Get Happy campaign have yet to be revealed by the manufacturer, but the hashtag success indicates that the ad was a hit.
The Get Happy campaign, which features the new Volkswagen Beetle, caused controversy before it was even aired with a number of stateside commentators accusing the commercial of having negative racial undertones.
The Get Happy ad shows a number of office workers speaking in Jamaican accents after they've had a ride in the new Beetle, with Volkswagen urging people to 'Get Happy'.
"With 'Get Happy,' we set out to create a lighthearted and energetic ad to represent the positive energy and sunny disposition that only the Beetle and Volkswagen can deliver," said Mike Sheldon, CEO, Deutsch LA, Volkswagen of America's creative Agency of Record.
Written by John Meadowcroft.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H0xPWAtaa8