Simples! Meerkat ad voted most memorable in TV commercial top 10
THEY may irritate or amuse but one thing is sure – animated meerkats speaking in Russian accents are hard to forget.
75 per cent named the “Oleg in Africa” commercial when asked to recall TV ads
Aleksandr Orlov and his furry pals are responsible for the most memorable advert on British TV in 2015, industry figures reveal.
Of the thousands of adverts seen last year, viewers were most likely to remember the one for comparison website comparethemarket.com in which Oleg the baby meerkat is left behind in Africa to start a new life.
Other commercials to make the top 10 include rival comparison sites gocompare.com, featuring overweight opera singer Gio Compario and his annoying jingle, and confused.com, whose advert shows a Brian the Robot toy.
This proves that the most effective ads are not necessarily the best, or even most popular, but have a winning formula that makes them hard to forget.
All the commercials mentioned made the annual “adwatch” table compiled by Marketing magazine after 1,000 adults are asked every week to name the adverts they could remember seeing over the previous seven days.
Opera singer Gio Compario also featured in the top 10
Others to make it on to the memorable list include an ad featuring comedian Lenny Henry sleeping in a Premier Inn bed, Sylvester Stallone appearing for bakers Warburtons and the cast of animated hit Inside Out advertising Sky broadband.
But the table shows that it is not just celebrities, repetitive jingles and cuddly characters that help to make ads memorable.
Lenny Henry's Premier Inn ad was also popular
Also among the 2015 top 10 is a touching advertisement for McDonald’s in which a couple’s blind date appears to show that they are hopelessly mismatched – until they both, separately, turn up to order exactly the same meal at the same place.
Asked to recall TV adverts they had seen recently, 75 per cent named the “Oleg in Africa” commercial – far more than any other ad during any of the 52 weeks starting in December 2014.
1,000 adults were asked each week to name the adverts they could remember seeing over the previous s
1980s Ronald McDonald Christmas Commercial
Only two Christmas ads make the list – the 2015 John Lewis “Man on the Moon” hit and the previous year’s Morrisons ad featuring Ant and Dec.
The seasonal offerings are joint fourth in the chart.