Analyzing The Impact of The Audi's Daughter Ads to The 51st Super Bowl

Audi’s “Daughter”

Anyone who watches the news or goes on the internet or even just has friends knows that the United States is going through tough times now. A change in the presidency has put people in arms and riots and marches have broken out all across this great land. This nation has never been more divided. Which is what fueled many ads for the 51st Super Bowl including Audi’s “Daughter”.

As a young blonde girl races through the street against her male friends, her father voices over his thoughts of the importance of her. He worries over how he will tell her what she is worth, specifically as a woman. She wins the race, and the father hopes for a future where people are not judged by their gender but by who they are on the inside. As the United States has broken out in multiple women’s marches across the country there is no better time than now to come out with a commercial that promotes women.

As we dive deeper into this commercial and discover why it is popular we first must look at whether it is a central route or peripheral route. Because of the main message behind the blog and how it makes the audience feel I believe that it is a central route. There are no famous people or comical jokes, it’s a deep message that the audience gets behind. I feel that when ads try to go down this “route” they can either be a hit or miss. You can make everyone like your commercial if you add in a lot of famous people, beautiful pictures, or comedic effects. But if you have a deep message and most people don’t agree with it, then your commercial is surely going to fall flat. We all have “attitudes” towards ideas, specifically political ones like feminism. Luckily “girl power” is very strong right now, and the majority attitude towards it is a positive one, which is why this ad is popular.

This commercial is definitely not about the “steak” and it’s not really about the “sizzle” either. We only briefly see the car at the end of the ad, the commercial is more about what that brand is for. Like coke is for happiness and friendship, Audi is for specifically “Equal pay”, and it also generally gives us the feel that it is for equality. That type of brand is something that people can get behind since they feel like they too are promoting equality. Which is why this commercial on is fulfilling “self-actualization” on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. We want to good people who change things in the world and make it for the better. And if we join this ‘brand’ we can say that we are changing the world.

This ad has positive oriented motives. It gives us a sense of hope as the man is at first worried that he won’t be able to tell his daughter all that she is truly worth, but then as the ad plays through he dreams of a day where girls are not worth any less than guys, and considers that that day is almost here. All of us has a mother or sister, if we are selves are not girls. When we consider our interpersonal influences we are all affected by equal pay and gender equality. And our culture, especially at this time in our nation’s history, is really pushing for it too.

It might not seem obvious that an ad is more than just funny jokes or famous faces. Whether serious or funny, ads do things for a reason. They research their target audience thoroughly and strive to get into their mind and give them something that the viewers themselves didn’t even know what they wanted. We could have just gotten videos of women’s marches and Audi cars driving through supporting the events. Audi could have come out with so many other options, but instead, they gave us a father worrying about his young daughter. It’s almost like a call to action. She’s young, and she doesn’t realize that she may be worth less than her boy counterparts, but she doesn’t have worry about that. Because we can fix it. And that is what Audi sold to their audience.