Super Bowl Advertisements: It’s about much more than a car

Audi: Prom

http://www.hulu.com/adzone/450448

The Audi commercial tells the story of a teenage boy going to his high school Prom. The commercial starts out with the boy’s family encouraging him to have a good time, even though he is going to the dance alone. Before the boy walks out the door in his tuxedo, his father stops him, throws him a set of car keys, and says, “hey son, have fun tonight”. The next scene shows the teen smiling in the driver’s seat of an Audi. He is suddenly beaming with an overwhelming confidence. He arrives at the school dance and proceeds to saunter through a sea of people until he reaches the center of the dance floor where he kisses the Prom Queen as everyone gasps and cheers. The commercial closes as the Prom King chases down the teen, then cuts to him driving away in his father’s Audi with a black eye, smiling.

The target audience for this commercial would be men and women in a financial position to purchase a luxury car. The tone of the commercial is daring, humorous, and bold. At the very end of the ad under the Audi logo, the words, “Bravery. It’s what defines us.” This sentence alone sums up the tone of the commercial fairly well. The company is identified at the very beginning of the ad, in the middle, and at the end. We see the actual car after the father throws the keys, as the boy drives and parks the car, and that end when the teen is leaving the prom. The story has a beginning, middle, and end, but the climax is near the end when the Prom King is targeting him. The ad leaves us hanging because we don’t actually get to see the altercation between the Prom King and the teen.

Kia: Space Babies

http://www.hulu.com/adzone/450574

The Space Babies Kia commercial starts out with a family of four driving in their car. A couple is sitting in the driver and passenger seats, and a young boy and a baby are sitting in the back. The story begins when the little boy asks his parents where babies come from. The father proceeds to go into an elaborate story saying that babies of all species come from another planet and after nine months get sent down to their families. After his dad finishes his story, the boy starts to say that his friend told him that babies come from…and then his dad asks the car to play the song wheels on the bus and the child gets distracted.

The target audience for this commercial is families with kids. The car is big enough to seat everyone comfortably and has features that make hands free technology accessible while on the road resulting in safer driving. The tone is humorous, which we see within the dad’s story. This is the tone throughout the whole commercial. It isn’t until the very end of the commercial that we see the car is a Kia. The commercial shows us some of the features the Kia has, such as voice command technology. This story has a beginning, middle, and end. The end is when the dad frantically asks the car to turn on the music. This is the key part of the ad because it finally displays the product.

I believe that the Audi advertisement has a stronger narrative than the Kia commercial. We see the featured car throughout the entire ad so we know from the beginning what the ad is about. The narrative is very relatable, because a lot of people can put themselves in the teen’s shoes. They too will want a car that can give them that sort of confidence.

I think that both ads do a great job of catching and keeping the viewer’s attention, but the Kia commercial is especially interesting because of all of the abstract images throughout the dad’s story. Seeing all of the babies and baby animals up in space wearing space suits is humorous and catches the viewer’s attention right away. It is so different than any other car commercial that for a moment you forget that’s what it is intended for.

I think that people are more likely to share the Audi commercial because it tells a story that people can relate to. Most of the people who would be sharing this video would have had a prom experience and have been a high school student before so they are familiar with the setting and the feelings associated with the situation. I personally would share the Audi commercial because I love seeing the progression in the teen’s mood and facial expressions throughout the story. The character development throughout this one minute commercial is significant, and makes it easy to feel for the character.