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Now that’s a commercial for car nuts. I love it.
I felt worse for the Lexus. Loved the ad.
Love it as well!
lol… loved it! The Lexus bit was hilarious.
–chuck
great ad.
26 years ago one of the guys that I went to high school with used to drive like that. Where are you now Brian Riedle?
The 3-Series driver looked like my old (and utterly reprehensible) landlord.
I hate to see old cars wrecked, but that was worth it.
Finally, a serious commercial from people who have fun building cars.
Might be the best one of the night, at least for gearheads.
Hahaha! I loved how he didn’t even bother with the Lexus!
I’d take any of those wonderful German cars, even the old Merc.
“Even the old Merc”.
That’s a 300SEL 6.3.
That’s like saying,
“I’d nail any of the Pussycat Dolls. even that skank in the middle who hooked it up with little Lewis.”
The look of disgust on Statham’s face at the Lexus with the most excellent gold trim was class. I also enjoyed how Audi stuck with subtle understatement poking fun at the other German marques… in stark contrast to the rather painfully ‘loud’ Hyundai commercial.
In the words of Peter Griffin, “It insists on itself” ;)
That’s a 300SEL 6.3.
The Merc was just a 4.5, according to the badging.
Strippo:
I was coming back here to cravenly edit my comment to pretend I’d never made that mistake!
Still a bad-assed ride, though.
Heh. If you still want to edit it I’ll play along.
I think it’s interesting to see that, in the dissing of Lexus, Audi’s revealing whom it’s most threatened by.
I think it’s interesting to see that, in the dissing of Lexus, Audi’s revealing whom it’s most threatened by.
I’d suggest that Audi has almost nothing to fear from Lexus, and vice-versa; cross-shoppers between the ES/GS and A6 exist mostly in aprocryphal tales.
The commercial simply reflects reality; a stereotypical Statham character would be pleased as punch to drive a big Benz, excited by a Bimmer, but utterly uninterested in a gold-package two-tone Toyota Windom.
On the flip side, I find Audi’s current positioning as the “newest thing” to be amazingly annoying. They’ve been making desirable avant-garde luxury sedans since the 100LS, the first-gen 5000 Turbo was as slick a piece as could be found anywhere, and the 1998 A6 was simply superb.
uhhmn, so I take away that a 30 yr old Merc and a 20 something 5er are inferior performance wise to a brand new Audi? Well duh. I wonder if the Audi will still be going strong in 20 yrs.
I take away from it that Merc peaked long ago, that BMW has strayed from the values that made their cars so much fun, and that Lexus never was. So why not check out this Bad Boy?
@andy d:
What I think the ad was saying was more like: Mercedes and Lincoln were seventies hotness, BMW was eighties hotness, Lexus and SUV’s were nineties hotness and Audi is new hotness.
Every car in that ad was nice, including the late seventies Lincoln Continental Town Cae. I like how it buried itself into the Mercedes.
Overproduced and overwhelmingly stupid. Not to mention infantile.
Overproduced and overwhelmingly stupid. Not to mention infantile.
So you’re saying it wasn’t as good as the Transformers spot? It’s a fair point.
Strippo, thanks.
Until I read your explanation, I just didn’t get it. But then again, to me, any video clip with that many cuts per minute, comes across as little different than a strobe light. I went back to old Bergman and Fellini movies when the MTV aestethic hit tinseltown, so what do I know?
Fellini’s like being at an opening full of bad art that no one really likes, but everyone says they like because admitting that it’s crap would be gauche.
Bergman’s work is good, though.
i was about to blast this commercial until Strippo helped me.
if Audi would just make the A4 and A6 as rear wheel drive vehicles and plunk in I6 engines i might believe them on the performance front.
Fellini’s like being at an opening full of bad art that no one really likes, but everyone says they like because admitting that it’s crap would be gauche.
I like Wilco, too. I swear!
Speaking of movies, is the fact that Tommy Boy was playing where the Lexus was parked meant to suggest that Audi considers Lexus a fat guy in a little coat?
Maybe I’m overthinking this.
“Oh that sounds good: melted chocolate inside the dash, that really ups the resale value.”
“When Bad Things Happen to Good Mercedes”
That was my reaction when I watched it the other day on the Audi site. & I’m an Audi fan. Poor Benz.
Nobody else will say it, and its probably my job anyway: “that’s a waste of a sweet Lincoln Continental.”
There, I feel better now.
if Audi would just make the A4 and A6 as rear wheel drive vehicles and plunk in I6 engines i might believe them on the performance front.
So in other words if Audi made BMWs, then Audis would be like BMWs. There’s nothing inherently “performance” about an I6. Arguably the world’s best six cylinder engines are made not in Munich but in Stuttgart, and they are flat, not inline.
Audi knows how to do performance, and they can achieve it with AWD. The “ultimate driving machine” company still has no answer for the R8. The next RS4 is also going to shut down the M3.
Where’s the spoiled rich college/high school kid who owns this Audi?
Did they nail the typical LA/Cali BMW driver or what? Hilarious.
Oh crap, better check, I think I’ve still got a polo and sweater like that….
The commercial cut out before the Audi broke down and had to be repaired by a horrible dealer.
“Borrowing” Audis from valets, as opposed to owning them, is probably the best way to go.
Audi currently has the best design of the German luxury brands, but, to use a phrase that has recently had a bit of a revival, Audi is simply putting lipstick on a pig.
The G35 sedan is the next stage of progress, which this commercial does not yet get to. A competent car that is also incredibly reliable.
Oh, that was an A6….I couldn’t tell.
The commercial cut out before the Audi broke down and had to be repaired by a horrible dealer.
“Borrowing” Audis from valets, as opposed to owning them, is probably the best way to go.
Original.
“That’s a 300SEL 6.3”
I’m glad it was a 4.5, otherwise I would have shed a little tear when that Conti plowed into it.
Really, abusing a classic M/B. You could have wrecked a C class, or any ML Series, or even an R class (there must be a creative director who hates his), and we’d cheer.
Audi is still the car you buy when you can’t quite hump up the bucks for a BMW. Sorry. (you A8-RS4 owners excepted, all 25 of you)
Best pistonhead ad of the night! The LAMO ad was the funniest and most entertaining commercial of the Superbowl, but since I can’t remember what they were advertising, I guess it wasn’t so effective from a marketing perspective (oh yeah, it was for NBC sitcoms). This Audi ad was clever, attention getting, and put the product in a flattering and conspicuous light. Well done.
Sajeev: Nobody else will say it, and its probably my job anyway: “that’s a waste of a sweet Lincoln Continental.”
There, I feel better now.
Tut, tut, tut [I’m shaking my head and smiling a little bit].
Really, abusing a classic M/B. You could have wrecked a C class, or any ML Series, or even an R class (there must be a creative director who hates his), and we’d cheer.
No, it had to be a cool old car. The Benz was his car, after all. Besides, for all we know the actual car was a half-assed restoration built up from a rusting hulk for the ad. We’re supposed to hate what we see happen to it. He hates it, too. But it’s all good because he ends up in a future classic, if Madison Avenue is to be believed.
For the HD version go to:
http://www.truthinengineering.com/
PanzerJaeger:
“‘The commercial cut out before the Audi broke down and had to be repaired by a horrible dealer.
‘Borrowing’ Audis from valets, as opposed to owning them, is probably the best way to go.’
Original.”
Just as original as the BMW and Lexus owner stereotypes. It’s not like I made an unintended acceleration or fire joke. We all know that the unintended acceleration was just a result of close, heal-toe-shifting pedal placement. And Audis probably don’t catch on fire anymore.
But the fact remains; an Audi is a car to lease, for 24 months maximum, only if one lives in a snowy area and is too lazy to change to snow tires for the winter, and cannot stand how ugly the new Acuras are. With its typical VW high standards of quality it is not a car to own.
On the question of VW/Audi quality, going back to the 1960s my extended family (nuclear family and grandparents and aunt) have owned 16 VWs and 3 Audis; all have been perfectly reliable, fun cars that have racked up high mileage with no complaints. And yes, we’ve also owned our share of Hondas, BMWs, Datsuns/Nissans/Infinitis, Mazdas, Renaults, Volvos, Fords, GMs, Chryslers, MGs, Jags, Subarus, Fiats and even a Saab and a Morgan in the same period, so we have had the benefit of comparison to other brands. Unsurprisingly, the only cars that have been blatantly unreliable were the Morgan, MGs, my grandmothers year one Ford Escort and the Fiats (duh). More surprisingly, the Toyota Cressida my parents owned was a complete piece of junk, as was my ’05 Subie Legacy.
But the VWs and Audis? All have been good enough that I recently added the 17th VW to the family stable by ditching the Subie for a GTI. Here’s hoping that the good quality streak will continue.
Statham sighing at the ES was hysterical. It made the commercial for me.
My wife quickly remarked: “Hey it’s handsome Rob” (Italian Job). Pretty Enjoyable spot in a sea of dullness.