The chances are by now that even if you didn’t watch Super Bowl XLVI, you’ve watched all of the new TV ads which aired during the event last Sunday.
That means you’ll also have seen the hilarious debut advert for Acura’s 2015 NSX Hybrid, staring Jerry Seinfield and Jay Leno.
But while the Japanese automaker is still three years away from bringing its iconic NSX back to life in the form of a U.S.-built hybrid supercar, its Super Bowl commercial proved so popular among fans that it struggled to keep its website running.
According to Automotive News (subscription required), seconds after Acura’s Super Bowl slot ended, Acura’s website crashed under a 3,000 percent increase in page requests.
Simply put, Acura’s servers just couldn’t keep up with requests from fans trying to find out more about the car.
The website didn’t come back on for another 10 minutes.
Acura NSX Concept, 2012 Detroit Auto Show
According to Acura however, its 16 million page views since posting the NSX Transactions ad on January 30 is exactly the kind of reaction it was hoping for.
“The traffic driving that we did with the commercial delivered the results we were looking for,” American Honda’s chief marketing officer Mike Accavitti said during a press conference at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show. “This direction you are seeing with Acura isn’t by accident. This is a well thought-out laser-focused plan that we have to get Acura noticed and get Acura on people’s shopping lists because we have these great new products coming out.”
In other words, Acura is using a car that isn’t due out for another three years as its flagship model.
It’s a risky gamble, but as long as Acura can keep the NSX a highly-desirable car that people will do anything to jump the queue for, it might just work.
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