Coles Status Quo ‘Down, down’ pips banned Lynx ‘clean you balls’ to the most Googled ad of 2012

Lynx balls ad: banned for demeaning old people

One of the most complained about ads of the year was one of the most Googled.

Unilever’s ‘clean your balls’ ad for Lynx shower gel – which was let off by the advertising watchdog for sexism, racism and bad language but banned for demeaning old people – was the second most search-for ad on Google in 2012.

The only more popular search was for a widely lampooned TV commercial for supermarket giant Coles, the search engine has revealed.

An ad featuring ageing Brit rock band Status Quo prompted a spike in Google searches when it launched in July.

But Coles was not the most Googled shopping brand – Woolworths, eBay and Big W were more highly sought out by internet users.

Classified ads site Gumtree was the most Googled brand overall, ahead of CommBank, which was the most searched brand in 2011.

Ross McDonald, industry leader local and retail, Google Australia, said: “Aussies will take to the web to search for the ads that moved them. Brands who understand this can extend their reach beyond television by helping their customers create their own commercial breaks: making their TV spots available on sites like YouTube and promoting them to online viewers.”

Google’s list of brand searches:

Top Searches for Ads, 2012

1. Coles ad
2. Lynx ad
3. Samsung ad
4. Woolworths ad
5. AAMI ad
6. Coke ad
7. Big brother ad
8. Nike ad
9. Qantas ad
10. Carlton Draught ad

Top Searches for Ads, 2011

1. Strongbow ad
2. Bonds ad
3. Telstra ad
4. AAMI ad
5. Toyota ad
6. Coles ad
7. Old Spice ad
8. Target ad
9. KFC ad
10. Nikon ad

Top Searches for Australian Brands, 2012

1. Gumtree
2. Commonwealth Bank
3. ANZ
4. Telstra
5. Seek
6. Westpac
7. AFL
8. Virgin
9. nab
10. ABC

Top Searches for Beer Brands, 2012         

1. XXXX

2. Carlton Draught

3. XXXX Gold

4. Skinny Blonde

5. Crown Lager

6. Tooheys Extra Dry

7. Tooheys New

8. Victoria Bitter

9. Melbourne Bitter

10. Brisbane Bitter

Fastest Rising Searches for Beer Brands, 2012

1. Brisbane Bitter

2. Carlton Draught

3. Skinny Blonde

4. Crown Lager

5. XXXX

6. Tooheys Old

7. XXXX Gold

8. Victoria Bitter

9. Mountains Goat Beer

10. Fosters Lager

Top Searches for Shopping Brands, 2012

1. eBay
2. Woolworths
3. Big W
4. Coles
5. Harvey Norman
6. Kmart
7. Target
8. Amazon
9. ASOS
10. Officeworks

Top Searches for Overseas Destinations, 2012

1. New Zealand

2. Singapore

3. London

4. Vanuatu

5. Phuket

6. Italy

7. Maldives

8. Indonesia

9. Russia

10. Mauritius

Robin Hicks

topics ColesGoogleWoolworths

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Comments: 4

Ward Austin 14 Dec 12

Why do Status Quo have to be described as ‘ageing’ Brit rock band?
What about revered, or classic, or even bloody iconic!
They’ve had 60 charted songs in the UK (more than any other rock group) – 22 of which have made it into the top 10.
Have some respect you little Gen Y wankers.

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@ward 17 Dec 12

they put on huge red foam hands and played red hand foam guitars and turned their most iconic song into a jingle promoting cheap groceries for a supermarket chain and you want people to show them respect?

you must be kidding me.

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Corinthians 17 Dec 12

Why would anyone google an ad they get to see anytime they watch A Current Affair or Today Tonight (apparently about once a week)?

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Reader 17 Dec 12

@ward. Used to be a fan of the band and loved that song. Coles have ruined it for me though. I still don’t understand with the large amount of royalties they get each they had to stoop as low as a grocery chain jingle.

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