Univision’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII was the most-watched Spanish-language Super Bowl on record, drawing an average of 2.3 million viewers for the Kansas City Chiefs’ overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
And just as Super Bowl advertising is a big deal during the English-language broadcast, Univision’s advertisers took advantage of the large audience to drive the consumer behaviors that are most predictive of future sales.
EDO ranked the top 40 ads that ran during Univison’s broadcast, based on how each ad actually increased consumer engagement for the advertised brand immediately after airing.
Here are three things we learned:
1. Volkswagen takes home the crownVolkswagen had one of the biggest successes of the English-language broadcast on CBS, and a Spanish-language version of its ad was even more effective for the Univision audience.
The ad celebrated Volkswagen’s place in U.S. culture and included an end card translated into Spanish. It ran twice during the Univision broadcast, finishing as the first and sixth most impactful airing of the game. The most effective of the two generated 6,860% more consumer engagement than the median ad during Univision’s Super Bowl LVIII broadcast.
2. Spanish language is a must for Spanish-speaking audiences
Of the 10 most effective ads during the Super Bowl on Univision, just one — Pringles’ Big Game ad featuring Chris Pratt — aired completely in English.
This demonstrates the impact that Spanish-language ads have among Spanish-speaking audiences, making clear the business case for creating unique creatives or using translation for this critical viewership.
One example that proves this point is Toyota, which made a unique, Spanish-language ad to promote the off-roading potential of the all-new 2024 Tacoma model.
Toyota had the 28th most effective ad during English-language broadcast — more than twice as effective as the median ad — but its Spanish-language spot placed even higher on the Univision ranking. There, the Japanese automaker scored the fifth most effective ad, generating 2,509% more engagement than the median Super Bowl ad on Univision.
3. Hispanic culture delivers the goods
Ads celebrating Hispanic culture or featuring Spanish-speaking celebrities were a big hit during Univision’s Super Bowl LVIII broadcast.
Two ads for the NFL aimed at Latin audiences finished in the top five — one highlighting Hispanic players and another promoting the league’s Spanish-language website and social channels.
The ad celebrating Hispanic players like Fred Warner and Alijah Vera-Tucker was the second most effective ad of the evening, generating 3,749% more engagement than the median.
The two NFL ads were joined in the top 10 by a Verizon ad featuring Colombian reggaeton star J Balvin, which drove 708% more engagement than the median ad on Univision’s Super Bowl LVIII broadcast.
Check out the rest of the winning Super Bowl ads from Univision’s Super Bowl broadcast
As the Hispanic portion of the U.S. population continues to grow, it will only become that much more important for advertisers to understand what really drives results with this critical audience.
Visit our Spanish-language Super Bowl ad ranker to see the rest of the top 40 ads from Univision’s Super Bowl broadcast, and sign up for our newsletter to get Spanish-language TV outcomes insights all year long.