Autoblog

Click image to see the Audi Super Bowl ad preview.

Audi has posted a sneak preview of its Super Bowl spot. Fans of The Godfather will love it, and anyone even remotely aware of The Godfather's memorable scenes will get it. Whether it helps persuade luxury car buyers that the interlocking rings constitute an offer they can't refuse will be determined on future sales charts. If nothing else, however, we know that Audi certainly brought its "A" game to Super Bowl Sunday...and that Johnny Fontane will get that movie.

Watch the preview here.

[Source: Audi via German Car Blog]

According to Audi, well, all that "ye olde worlde traditional luxury" stuff is great, but it's not the new hotness. Scott Keogh, marketing head for Audi of America, says that the key now is to combine the values of old European luxury -- high quality and traditional prestige -- with new, West Coast luxury values of "a more casual attitude, a sense of Zen and spirit and those types of things."

Audi aims to define that trend, though it doesn't say exactly how. Audi's upcoming Godfather-themed Super Bowl commercial is meant to exemplify the idea, as the movie is about a shift in power from the old to the new. Audi wants to assert itself, but it doesn't yet have the same perceived prestige of its German foes, a lot of which has to do with the fact that understatement is still the guiding principle in its car design. Audi makes some terrific cars, but it simply won't get big volume from the lifestyle crowd with handicaps like that. And as to how exactly Audi plans to incorporate "new-age" and "Zen and spirit" into its car design -- could yoga mats replace floor mats in the A5 Sportback?

[Source: Auto News]