As the saying goes, it’s often better to be lucky than it is to be good. By any measure, Cadillac’s “Go To Green Hell” Super Bowl ad for the upcoming ATS sedan was nothing special. It didn’t have supermodels, famous actors, comedians or even much of a script.

It did, however, have exactly the right timing to draw in a total rating of 43.46, according to Kantar Media, making it the most watched advertisement in U.S. history.  Cadillac’s thirty second spot ran at 9:38:37 PM, during the two-minute warning in the game’s fourth quarter.

The Super Bowl itself reached a record U.S. audience of 111.3 million viewers, delivering solid value for advertisers despite the exorbitant ad costs.

Per GM’s global chief marketing officer Joel Ewanick, “Cadillac is expanding with new models challenging the world’s best luxury cars. This stunning viewership data proves that Cadillac’s big message reached the largest audience.”

Ewanick went on to say, “When it comes to Super Bowl ads, everyone has opinions on their favorites. But it’s a fact that this Cadillac spot had the biggest audience during the game.”

That may be, but we’d chalk it up to timing and not content or creativity. Had the game been a blowout, it’s likely that the ad would have run before a much smaller audience. We’re not saying that the Cadillac isn’t good, but we are saying it’s lucky.