Audi gets pushback on Super Bowl ad advocating for equal pay
Audi released its Super Bowl ad last week featuring the all-new 2018 Audi S5 Sportback Prestige model in its #DriveProgress campaign. But the ad, titled 'Daughter' looked to do more than promote its new car model, it advocated for equal pay.
Audi gets pushback on Super Bowl ad advocating for equal pay
According to Audi’s website where they are directing people, “At Audi, progress is for everyone. As stated by the Joint Economic Committee in a report dated April 2016, women were paid 21 percent less than men on average. So at Audi of America, we are standing up alongside every other organization that supports this important cause.”
Despite a seemingly simple message calling for equality, the automaker is receiving backlash as many are looking at Audi’s own executive team. On Audi’s 14-person executive team, there are 12 men and two women.
Some had negative responses to the #DriveProgress ads such as these:
As a father of two girls I liked the @Audi #driveprogress ad. Then I went and looked at their board of directors.... all men
— Tim Szczodrowski (@T_Szczodrowski) February 2, 2017
@Audi Nice work! Now show us the progress on your board and executive team! https://t.co/KC5TSZ4unu — Angela Bushman (@angelarare) February 5, 2017
is it just me or is @Audi's super bowl ad kind of annoying? profiting off the wage gap with executive leadership that is majority male? idk.
— Claire McGovern (@clairemcgovern) February 3, 2017
@MarkDice @YouTube Audi has 2 women and 12 men on their executive team. Hypocrites. — Debbie Katsounakis (@born_summer62) February 4, 2017
Citing data from Networked Insights, the Wall Street Journal reported that 25% of the comments about the ad on social platforms have been negative, 13% have been positive, and the rest have been neutral.
As of Thursday, research firm Networked Insights said that there have been roughly 4,580 comments made about the Audi commercial on social platforms. Of those social interactions, about 25% of the comments have been negative, while 13% have been positive, according to The Wall Street Journal.
As Super Bowl LI — which will most likely grab over 100 million viewers — inches closer, Audi is joined by other brands who are making charged statements with their own ads. Budweiser’s ad tells the story of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s co-founder who immigrated to the U.S. Kia's ad features Melissa McCarthy who tries to save the environment while promoting the hybrid Kia Niro. 84 Lumber features a Spanish-speaking mother and her young daughter enduring loads of hardships as they journey, the rest of the ad can be seen during half-time on their site after Fox allegedly rejected the original version of the ad.