Will a Narrative Make or Break a Super Bowl Ad?

The first commercial that came to mind when I thought of a successful narrative is the Budweiser “Brotherhood” commercial from 2013. This ad is about a man that raises a horse and has to sell it but then eventually they find their way back to each other. It starts out showing a taking care of his horse since he was a baby, basically raising it like it was his child and then eventually he to sell his horse away. The rising action of the story occurs when the man is going to a parade and he sees his horse walking in it. It then drives to the climax where at the end of the parade the horse turns around and gallantly runs towards his owner who is standing there waiting for him. When the horse finally gets there, he is standing right in front of his owner and his owner lovingly puts his hands on the horses face.

What made this advertisement so successful is because it pulled people’s heart strings. Budweiser is only briefly identified in at some points in the story. For example, the man’s hat, the Budweiser trucks and the man drinking a Budweiser beer. However, the way that it is incorporated makes it so that the Budweiser name is just a small portion of the story. What the story is really about is a horse and its owner. Subliminal advertising in throughout the narrative is a message to their consumers what Budweiser stands for and what they are all about.

The next Super Bowl advertisement that I analyzed is the “Prom” Audi commercial about a high school teenager who gets to take his dad’s Audi to prom and by doing so he feels that he can accomplish anything. Exposition begins with the teen boy getting ready for prom and on his way out his dad tosses him his keys and says “Have fun tonight.” Driving to prom he stops by a limo with other kids going to prom. This part of the story is the rising action, where the boy begins to do everything that is going to make him look cooler in front of the other kids. He revs his engine next to the limo and parks in the principal’s parking spot. The climax is when he actually gets to prom, he steals another guy’s date (who appears to be the “popular kids.”)The story then ends with him courageously driving away with a black eye in his dad’s Audi. We can assume that the black eye was caused by stealing another guy’s prom date.

Audi is obviously identified from the start when he takes his dads car and throughout the commercial. They carefully chose how to highlight and glorify the car throughout the commercial without taking away from the story. The brand name is also presented at the end of the story along with the slogan “Bravery. It’s What Defines Us.” The hashtag “#BraveryWins” is also included next to the Audi logo which was very smart because it engages the consumers the go on social media and express how Audi has brought out the bravery in them.

Both of these ads I feel were very well done. However, I think that the Budweiser commercial has a stronger narrative and did a better job at keeping the viewer’s attention. I say this because each of the acts were clearly defined throughout the story. Most importantly, the climax (when the horse was running back towards his owner) was built up from the start and drawn out when it was happening. Because of this, the viewers have built up emotions and a sentimental attachment to the horse. I think that what made Audi’s advertisement weak is that the climax and falling action part of the story was n not clearly defined causing viewers to loser interest. Overall, the Budweiser ad had more of an “aww” factor along with fluid components of the narrative structure. Not to mention, a happy ending that made it one of the most talked (if not the most talked about) advertisement in Super Bowl history.