Audi's New Superbowl Ad Unveiled: Huh?

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

So, here it is. Click here for Audi's new Superbowl head. I mean, ad. It's a recreation of the scene from the Godfather wherein the Hollywood producer Jack Woltz refuses Don Corleone's request to cast Johnny Fontane (a.k.a. Frank Sinatra) in his new war film. Woltz wakes up with his favorite horse's head in his bed. In this case, the actor wakes up to a car grill and some greasy bits, courtesy of Audi and the new R8. OK, hang on here. If I read this right, the guy in the bed is a luxury car buyer who refuses to consider the R8 as his new luxury car. The fact that producer discovers a generic grill– not a Merc, BMW, Rolls, Bentley, whatever– is a MAJOR wimp-out from Audi. The fact that Audi is portrayed as a criminal enterprise that terrorizes its own [potential] customers is a MAJOR violation of the old adage "never insult the customer." And what does this do to "redefine" luxury? Nothing. We'll be talking to an expert on commercials tomorrow. But as far as I can tell, this Audi ad shows a lack of originality (ipso facto). Worse, it casts Audi, a German automaker, as a bunch of evil bastards. Still, nice car. I give it a D. Meanwhile, one wonders how much Audi paid TTAC reviewer Jay Shoemaker's boss to inflict this homage on a suspecting public.

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Kevin Kluttz Kevin Kluttz on Feb 04, 2008

    Roles Roice Fantam?

  • Jthorner Jthorner on Feb 04, 2008

    "Does Audi even have anything at the level of Rolls Royce?" Sure, they have Bentley. All part of the same company.

  • TeeKay TeeKay on Feb 04, 2008

    I think the ad sucks and won't persuade many BMW/Benz owners to switch. Whatever happened to the old adage of "win races on sundays, sell cars on monday." Audi has invested so much money in Le Mans - and with excellent results - it makes one wonder why it did not use that to its advantage? How about merging images of the R8 and R10 Le Mans winning cars with the street versions of R8 (S4, S5, etc.) revving about town, diplaying their shapes, handling, and engine notes? Tell people that you make fast, winning, race cars. After all, the street R8 is named after the legendary R8 of Le Mans lore, and yet no one from my Super Bowl party even knew about it. I'm thinking of something similar to the Ferrari/Shell commercial from last year. Now, that's a commercial. I still have it saved on my PC.

  • Yankinwaoz Yankinwaoz on Feb 04, 2008

    I liked the ad. It has the "Not your father's Oldsmobile" genre, but evil and fun. Toyota did the same thing with their Scion ("Not your parent's Corolla").

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