Samsung’s Galaxy Note “phablet” is a hit, with the company having sold more than 5 million units to end users around the world. While Samsung has not yet shared any region-specific sales data, any success the phone has had in the United States can be attributed to the company’s advertising, a new study suggests. The huge handset’s launch in the U.S. was precluded by a series of ads most agree were not terribly effective — including one where the vendor tried to coin the term “Samsunged” — but the South Korea-based technology giant’s current television ad was recently named the most effective ad of the year so far. Read on for more.

Television analytics firm Ace Metrix announced this week that Samsung’s “The Best Of A Phone And A Tablet” commercial is the most effective ad of the first quarter in the U.S. The firm uses a proprietary ranking system dubbed “Ace Score” that measures viewer reaction to national TV ads on a scale of 0 to 950. Samsung’s commercial earned an Ace Score of 686 for the first quarter, besting Doritos and M&M’s, which were tied for the No.2 spot at 671. Samsung also held the No.5 position for a television advertisement.

“Q1 is arguably the most important quarter for advertising, as the Super Bowl, Oscars, and awards season in general drives the advertising agenda,” Ace Metrix CEO Peter Daboll said in a statement. “It will be very interesting to watch how Samsung’s continually impressive ads affect the company’s marketshare vis-à-vis competitors like Apple, which, this quarter, did not come close to measuring up to Samsung’s advertising prowess. Samsung’s top-ranked ad was particularly brilliant because it conveyed innovation and information without a narrator.”

BGR reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Note this past February and while we found it to be a fantastic device with a gorgeous high-definition display, we also felt that the device was far too large to be used comfortably as a phone.