New York 2008: IAG names most effective car ads

The folks at IAG Research handed out their second annual automotive advertising awards this morning in New York. We wouldn't have really covered them but we happened to be there for the Bob Nardelli keynote that followed, so we took a few notes. IAG judges ads by effectiveness rather than on artistic merit so it was interesting to see that ads that might have been entertaining weren't necessarily pushing iron out the showroom doors. There were six categories and the winner in each ended up being the lamest tamest commercial of the three finalists. OK, maybe the HUMMER one wasn't too bad, but we still preferred the Pontiac G8 Spyhunter ads and they weren't even nominated. Here are the winners:

Most Effective Overall Ad (Luxury Brand): Lexus - Hockey Practice
Most Effective Overall Ad (Non-Luxury Brand): Chevrolet - Ain't We Got Love
Most Liked Ad: Hummer - Video Game Alt
Most Effective Established Nameplate Launch Campaign: Toyota Tundra - Those crazy rugged stunts
Most Effective New Nameplate Launch Campaign: Hyundai Veracruz - Lexus EX owner accidentally gets into adjacent Veracruz
The Green Award: Subaru - Soul of Subaru