Of course, using David Bowie’s Starman is borrowed interest, even if Time calls it a tribute ad. But Venables Bell & Partners has done a good job of ticking all the Super Bowl boxes for client, Audi, nonetheless.
The ad is about family love, is a tear-jerker, builds to a crescendo and makes a massive credentials promise about Audi by association – which is always so much better than stating you have massive credentials.
In a nutshell, it’s the story of a depressed ex-astronaut whose son comes to the rescue – reviving his father’s passion for life by letting him drive the new 2017 Audi R8 V10 Plus.
Can the car live up to the hype? According to Audi, the 2017 R8 is the fastest and most powerful Audi ever made. It has a top speed of 330 kph and a zero-to-100 acceleration of 3.2 seconds.
The 60 second ad (Audi’s eighth Super Bowl ad) will run in the first quarter of Super Bowl 50. The 90 second extended cut is already on YouTube.
CREDITS
Client: Audi of America
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Executive creative director: Will McGinness
Creative directors: Tyler Hampton & Erich Pfeifer
Senior art director: Rich North
Copywriters: Rus Chao & Paul Venables
Director of integrated production: Craig Allen
Agency executive producer: Mandi Holdorf
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Craig Gillespie
Director of Photography: Masanobu Takayangi
Executive producer: Emma Wilcockson
Producer: Martha Davis
Editing: Rick Russell @ Final Cut Editorial
Colour: Stefan Sonnenfeld @ CO3
Music company: Agoraphone
Sound design: 740 Sound Design
