Past Super Bowl Ads: Audi and Kia

Super Bowl ads are just one form of storytelling. The Big Game brings out the biggest and best advertisements. In recent years, two particular ads stick out to me: a 2013 Audi commercial and a 2013 Kia commercial.

2013 Audi Commercial: Prom

The 2013 Audi Super Bowl commercial depicts a young man going to prom single. The idea is that the kid is having a lame night until his Dad lets him borrow the Audi, which changes the night around for him. The target audience could be one of two audiences: either young adults who know the pain of prom alone or parents who could potentially make their kids night better by letting them borrow the Audi that they will buy. The ad has a sentimental and inspirational feel for the audience, particularly with how it ends and how this kid ended up having a great night at prom once he had the Audi. Audi is identified fairly early in the ad, particularly when the boys Dad gives him the keys.

Like most stories, the ad has a beginning, middle and end; it has an exposition, rising action, and climax. The interesting thing about this ad is that we don’t necessarily see the climax, it’s assumed (When the boy gets punched should be the climax, but the viewer never sees that).

The exposition is the first few shots of the ad with the kid getting ready for prom. His Mom tells him to have a good night, as a mother should. The rising action begins with the kids Dad giving him keys to their Audi.

2013 Kid Commercial: Space Babies

The 2013 Kia ad depicts a family in the car (a Kia, low and behold) with the kid asking the ever-so-popular kid question, “Where do babies come from?” The Dad, who is driving, then comes up with this immensely detailed story about how babies come from space. It’s actually quite funny, because this is how everyone wants to answer their kids. To a story like this, the target audience is parents with young children. It’s a humorous ad that gained a lot of popularity due to its comedy. Kia isn’t identified until near the end of the ad, which is typical for a car company. Like most car ads, the ad ends with a full shot of the car while they talk about features.

This ad isn’t like a typical story, but it does still have a beginning, middle and end. The exposition is just the daughter and dad talking while driving, until she asks “where do babies come from?” which is the beginning of the rising action. The rising action continues nearly the entire ad while the Dad tells all these things about babies to his daughter. There isn’t necessarily a clear climax, but the ad ends with the dad using the voice recognition software in the Kia to play kid friendly songs.

Comparing: Audi and Kia

The stronger narrative comes from the Audi ad, just because it has an almost clear climax and very clear beginning, middle, and end. Although this is true, the Kia ad better catches and keeps the attention of the audience. The Kia ad is more exciting and is humorous; people love humor. Because of that, I think people are more likely to share the Kia ad.