It’s been a humdinger of a year for advertising. We’ve had some of the amazing Super Bowl spots to salivate over, balls telling us they have feelings too, and a heap of our weekly ad round-ups which feature the weird, wonderful and WTF.

Viral marketing and tech company Unruly has also swept the global ad market and come up with a list of the top 20 ads of the year, based on their sharability.

Unruly picked apart the ads which had the most number of shares – not views – on social media platforms, which in turn measures the chatter around the ad, calling it the virality of the clip.

Unruly’s Australia managing director Lance Traore said: “We’ve been collecting and analysing consumer data on video consumption and sharing patterns since 2006 and one of the key drivers to video shareability is emotional intensity – how an ad makes a person feel.

“From the joy you feel when your pup welcomes you home to nostalgic memories of your childhood pet, animals can tap into a wide range of emotions that have broad appeal. By placing the focus on friendship and shared experiences, advertisers in 2015 have successfully used dogs, cats and other furry friends to provoke strong feelings of warmth and well-being.”

Data was collected from 1 January 2015 to 16 November 2015. Below is the top 20.

1. Google Android – Friends Furever

Shared: The ad was shared 6,432,921 times across Facebook, Twitter and blogs since its February launch. It’s the most shared ad not only of this year, but ever, according to Unruly.

Agency: Droga5 New York

2. Disney – Disney Characters Surprise Shoppers

Shared: 3,943,997

Agency: Grand Visual

3. Purina – This man found his soulmate in a puppy and it’s adorable

Shared: 3,021,499

Agency: BuzzFeed

4. Roc by Ronaldo/Monster – Cristiano Ronaldo – People are going to think I’m crazy!

Shared: 2,995,849

Agency: Shareability

5. Budweiser – Super Bowl Commercial ‘Lost Dog’

Shared: 2,808,541

Agency: Anomaly

6. Ad Council – Diversity and Inclusion, ‘Love has no labels’

Shared: 2,743,138

Agency: R/GA

7. Zorba – Maya

Shared: 2,634,706

8. Fanpage.IT – Slap her: Children’s Reactions

Shared: 2,365,612

9. Microsoft – Robert Downey Jr. delivers a real bionic arm

Shared: 2,119,279

Agency: POSSIBLE

10. Kleenex – Unlikely Best Friends

Shared: 2,027,213

Agency: VSA Partners

11. Metflife – My Dad’s story, dream for my child

Shared: 1,497,418

Agency: BBDO Hong Kong

12. Pandora – The Unique Connection

Shared: 1,157,824

13. DC Shoes – Robbie Maddison’s Pipe Dream

Shared: 1,058,149

14. Supercell – Clash of Clans: Revenge

Shared: 1,005,673

Agency: Barton F. Graf

15. Red Nose Day – Coldplay’s Game of Thrones Musical

Shared: 998,762

16. adidas – create your own game

Shared: 779,019

Agency: 72andSunny

17. John Lewis – #ManontheMoon

Shared: 693,343

Agency: Adam & Eve

18. adidas – Unfollow feat. Leo Messi

Shared: 681,645

Agency: 72andSunny

19. Sainsbury’s – Mog’s Christmas Calamity

Shared: 629,720

Agency: AMV BBDO

20. adidas – yesterday is gone

Shared: 625,545

Agency: 72andSunny