Olympic ads make viewers cry and take notice

Pass the tissues. Because when it comes to TV commercials during the Olympics, the more heart-wrenching the story, the more viewers adore them.

Narration by Morgan Freeman doesn't hurt either.

Nielsen this week surveyed more than 13,000 Olympic viewers and found huge success among ads that directly tie brands like Visa or Procter & Gamble to the tragedies and triumphs of Olympic athletes and families.

Case in point: The ad for Visa with Morgan Freeman telling the story of speed skater Dan Jansen, whose sister Jane died three days before he competed in 1988. "He'd promised her he'd win gold. He didn't," Freeman says as the footage shows Jansen crashing and weeping in despair.

"Until six years later," Freeman continues, as footage shifts to Jansen carrying a little girl, "then, he skated a victory lap, with his daughter, Jane."

Viewers scored that No. 1 on Nielsen's "Likeability Index" among those surveyed, with a score of 301 -- with 100 representing neutral or indifferent feelings.

Scoring at No. 8 on the Top 10 likeability list, the Visa ad where Freeman tells how skier Julia Mancuso used to draw crayon pictures of winning a gold medal. "She doesn't have to draw her own posters anymore," he says as footage shows Mancuso flying through the finish line to win.

The real-life Olympics have provided plenty of stories of tragedy and triumph. The mother of Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette died just two days before she was to take the ice in Vancouver.

She rallied, gave a near-flawless performance and took a bronze medal.

To be sure, ads with no Olympics or personal struggles are doing well, too. Orville Redenbacher popcorn scored in the Top 10 with an ad showing a father and brother joining a little girl's play tea party so they can eat her popcorn.

But six of the top 10 most-liked commercials tied Olympic themes to brands like Visa, McDonalds and Coca-Cola.

The Olympics, which ends Sunday, has enjoyed especially high ratings this season, at one point beating out the seemingly unbeatable Fox juggernaut of "American Idol."

Normally, ads with strong emotional stories are among the most remembered, said Nielsen vice president Dave Kaplan. And the Olympics provide a natural stage for brands to tie themselves to compelling stories of human victory.

"These are smart companies and they know their target consumer," Kaplan said. "And there are a lot of mothers watching the games.

Procter & Gamble targets mothers overtly, with one ad showing young kids playing the role of athletes. "To their Moms, they'll always be kids," the narrator says, as logos flash by for brands like Tide, Pampers and Crest. A tag line reads, "Procter & Gamble, proud sponsor of Moms."

About 56 percent of Olympic viewers are female this year, according to Nielsen. And the audience skews older. Ratings among teenagers are 57 percent lower than the national average, while ratings among those 55-and-higher are 82 percent higher.

Rounding out the Top 10 most-liked ads, the 60-second Procter & Gamble spot with mothers singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" to their children in different settings: In the delivery room, while fixing a tire and as one mother watches her daughter skate in competition to a standing ovation.

That ad has more than 14,000 views on YouTube.