Is the Social Web now front-of-mind for Madison Avenue?

This is a question that I have been asking myself for a while, and it is becoming increasingly evident that the great minds that are creating multi-million dollar commercials for the world’s most recognizable brands are very much thinking about the social web, particularly YouTube.

Like the Super Bowl every year, where the ad business is as talked about as much as the event itself, major sporting occasions tend to draw the largest budgets from major advertisers out the best work from those responsible for putting the ads together.

Now, with the 2010 World Cup now upon us, there are a number of great commercials which have become incredibly popular on YouTube. Let’s look at a couple.

Nike Football: Write the Future

Uploaded: May 17th, 2010
Views to date: 15,576,055

adidas Originals – Star Wars™ Cantina 2010

Uploaded: June 4th, 2010
Views to date: 3,297,285

To be honest, I don’t know too much about how the success or failure of traditional TV commercials are judged, however my feeling is that the extent of how they are shared and distributed across the web is certainly becoming a factor.