Nissan’s With Dad Wins Youtube AdBlitz 2015

Google has announced the winner of this year's YouTube AdBlitz with TBWAChiatDay LA's emotional With Dad Nissan spot winning the contest.

The commercial, which follows an up-and-coming race driver through his journey to the highest levels of motorsports competition, uses a narrative soundtrack provided by Harry Chapin’s iconic Cat’s In the Cradle and was voted for by fans as their favourite spot aired at this year's Super Bowl XLIX.

The ad's story depicts the struggles of a father and mother to balance work and family life as they raise their son with the cycle is broken as the piece concludes.

The spot also introduced audiences to two new vehicles during the Big Game this year: the GT-R LM NISMO, which will contest the LM P1 class of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the highest category in world sports car racing; and the all-new 2016 Nissan Maxima sports sedan, which will debut at the upcoming New York International Auto Show in April.

“The tremendous response we’ve had to the commercial is due in part to the excitement around the new vehicles teased in the spot, but mainly came down to creating a story that authentically resonated with our audience,” says Fred Diaz, senior vice president, Nissan sales & marketing and operations US, Nissan North America. “In the commercial we saw both parents share equally in the courage, hard work and sacrifice required to keep the family strong – a struggle many people can relate to in their own daily lives.”

Prior to the Super Bowl, Nissan teased the theme of fatherhood featured in the work through a series of films made in collaboration with popular YouTube content creators, targeting their extensive fan bases. During the game, viewers were asked to post their own #WithDad moments to social media.

As of today (17 February), With Dad has received over 22 million views since it was first posted to YouTube by Nissan on 1 February 2015. The spot recently made shots' Top 10 Ads of Super Bowl 2015 and you can read more about the wider campaign here.