Audi’s Super Bowl ad stars the super-sleek, presumed Tesla-challenging e-tron GT electric sedan, currently set to go on sale in early 2021. The commercial is pretty odd from top to bottom, in that it starts with a young man wandering through some sort of agricultural dreamscape and stumbling upon his dead grandfather in front of a large farmhouse. Grandpa takes him into the barn and reveals the e-tron GT, which the grandson gets into and does a brief Marty McFly impression. Then he’s jolted awake: He was choking on a cashew. He’s actually in a gray-on-gray-on-gray office building and not in a fancy electric car. Everyone in the office is excited that he didn’t die, though! (His co-worker heroically administered the Heimlich maneuver, ending his sweet dreams of electric cars and rebooted dead relatives.) Also, Audi announces at the end of the commercial, one-third of its cars will be electric by 2025. “Electric goes Audi,” as it were. As Green Car Reports points out, the ad represents a significant moment for the electric car industry. Super Bowl ad slots are $5 million apiece, not counting whatever the company spent making a highly-produced, high-concept ad like this one. That’s a lot of money for a traditional automaker to put behind an electric vehicle. GCR contrasts this with electric car advertising spending for the full year in 2017 — when Nissan spent nothing to advertise its Leaf electric car, Toyota spent nothing to advertise its Prius Prime hybrid, and Ford spent nothing to advertise its C-Max Energi hybrid, focusing all their efforts instead on more popular crossovers and typical family cars. Whether a Super Bowl ad can really do anything to elicit excitement about electric vehicles remains to be seen — and is frankly dubious! — but at least we all got a good scare.<doc-sep>Audi returns to the Big Game with 60-second spot, “Cashew,” to air in second quarter on Sunday, Feb. 3, live now online Cinematic story delivers humorous take on one man’s version of utopia made complete by all-electric Audi e-tron GT concept Spot highlights brand’s electrification strategy, noting one third of all new Audi models will be electrified by 2025* HERNDON, Va., February 1, 2019 – Audi returns to America’s biggest night in football with a humorous 60-second commercial called “Cashew.” Known for memorable storytelling, Audi highlights the brand’s electrification strategy by offering a glimpse of the fully electric Audi e-tron GT concept car. “Cashew” will air on Sunday, Feb. 3 during the second quarter of the big game. San Francisco-based Venables Bell & Partners created the commercial. This year marks Audi’s 10th appearance during the game. “The biggest night in football offers a national platform to share our commitment to electrification while showcasing the future of electric performance with the Audi e-tron GT concept, which Audi anticipates going into production in two years. Discerning viewers will also notice a cameo by the e-tron SUV, which is scheduled to hit U.S. showrooms in the 2nd quarter of this year,” said Loren Angelo, vice president, Marketing, Audi of America. “Cashew” tells the humorous story of one man’s version of utopia, made complete by his vision of the perfect car. As the spot begins, viewers are transported through an ethereal field alongside a man walking. As he arrives at a rustic house, the man is greeted by his late grandfather and ushered into a garage where the all-electric Audi e-tron GT concept is revealed. Delighted, the man pushes the start button and the vehicle comes to life. Just before he can start his drive, the man is abruptly pulled back from his paradise as his body begins to convulse. Back in an office setting, the man has just coughed up a cashew nut after receiving medical assistance from a colleague. As the colleague utters “You’re one lucky man. I was worried about you for a minute,” a look of utter disappointment paints the man’s face. The commercial concludes with the message: “A thrilling future awaits. On Earth. One third of all new Audi models will be electrified by 2025.” “Cashew” can be viewed now at the Audi USA YouTube channel. The commercial was directed by Ringan Ledwidge. An electric future awaits Scheduled to arrive stateside in the second quarter of 2019, the 2019 Audi e-tron SUV is the first of three all-electric models Audi plans on introducing in the United States. The additional two concept models are expected to be the Audi e-tron Sportback (expected debut in 2019) and the Audi e-tron GT (expected debut in 2020). Audi anticipates offering more than 20 fully electric and plug-in hybrid models globally by 2025. Featured in this year’s ad, the Audi e-tron GT concept is a fully electric, lightweight four-door sports car. With seating for four passengers, the Audi Sport model is designed for both the road and track—with everyday usability and premium touches, including the driver-oriented cockpit, all-vegan interior and consistent use of recycled materials throughout. Available for reservation now, the Audi e-tron SUV is a fully electric, five passenger SUV with progressive design, advanced electric and digital technology, and driving dynamics customers expect of a premium vehicle. The SUV lets consumers go electric without compromise. Customers can learn more about the all-electric Audi e-tron SUV by visiting audiusa.com/e-tron. An Audi ecosystem Helping to ensure customers confidence as they approach their electric future, Audi has helped establish an ecosystem of support for convenient charging and EV mobility. Customers can enjoy the convenience of scheduling home charging installation through Amazon Home Services, and for e-tron buyers, 1000 kWh of charge powered by Electrify America is included at no additional cost for use in the first four years of ownership. Audi e-tron buyers will have the opportunity to ready their homes for their all-electric SUV with available Amazon Home Services in the first-ever home charging collaboration between Amazon and an automaker. “Audi Home Charging powered by Amazon Home Services” offers e-tron buyers a fully digital experience for scheduling in-home electric vehicle charging installations, designed to make the process of home charging set up as simple as possible. For charging on the go, the e-tron will be supported by a nationwide charging network, “Powered by Electrify America.” By July 2019, this network will include nearly 500 fast-charging sites complete or under development throughout 40 states and 17 metro areas. Offering advanced charging, Electrify America’s chargers are capable of delivering up to 350kW. Big Game storytelling The Audi brand has a rich history of telling compelling stories on game day—from delivering an empowering message on pay equality with “Daughter” in 2017, to shooting for the moon in 2016 with “The Commander" to allowing online viewers to vote on the commercial’s ending in 2013 with “Prom.”<doc-sep>He pulls the cover off of an Audi E-Tron GT concept and gives it to his grandson, who he must really like. The E-Tron GT is the star of the ad because “the fully-electric, four-door Gran Turismo represents the future of electric performance for the Audi brand,” according to an Audi representative in an email to The Drive. Before our protagonist gets a chance to take the car for a spin, he jolts back in the seat confused about what’s happening. Then it cuts to him sitting in an office chair with a co-worker performing the Heimlich maneuver (very badly, but we’ll let it slide since it’s just a goofy commercial) causing a cashew to fly out of the guy’s mouth. It turns out his little E-Tron fantasy was just a near-death experience from choking on a nut in his cubicle. The end of the ad boldly proclaims that one-third of all Audi models will be electrified by 2025 while "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum plays in the background. Keep an eye out for this ad when you watch the LA Rams face off against the New England Patriots in Atlanta this Sunday.<doc-sep>Audi's 2019 Super Bowl is called "Cashew" and at first glance it's not obvious why. It opens on a young man doing that weird Russell-Crowe-in-Gladiator hand in the wheat field thing as he approaches an isolated house. It kind of goes off the rails from there. Upon nearing the house, our protagonist is greeted by an elderly man on the porch who is revealed to be his grandfather. The two enter a weird garage laboratory and the old man pulls a sheet off of a vehicle that ends up being the Audi E-Tron GT concept -- (also known as the best-looking debut of the 2018 LA Auto Show). Upon sliding into the fancy cloth-covered driver's seat, our young man is jolted violently, and it's then that the name of the ad starts to make sense. He's receiving the Heimlich maneuver from a coworker and coughs up the aforementioned drupe. It's not entirely clear what Audi's new Super Bowl ad is trying to sell, considering that we don't expect to see the E-Tron GT as a production model until 2020, but still, any excuse to ogle it and have a laugh is fine by us. In case you need a brief refresher, the E-Tron GT is a fully electric concept car that packs a 90-kilowatt-hour battery and motors that produce just shy of 600 horsepower. Like Porsche's forthcoming Taycan, the E-Tron GT will support 800-volt charging that should allow it to recover around 200 miles of range in just 20 minutes. Better yet, Audi recently let us drive the multi-million-dollar E-Tron GT concept on the mean streets of Los Angeles. You can read all about it here.<doc-sep>
Audi has released the commercial it plans to air during the Superbowl, which is the first of its kind for being focused on electric vehicles. What do you think about the ad? Loren Angelo, vice president of marketing at Audi of America, commented on the release of the ad: “The biggest night in football offers a national platform to share our commitment to electrification while showcasing the future of electric performance with the Audi e-tron GT concept, which Audi anticipates going into production in two years. Discerning viewers will also notice a cameo by the e-tron SUV, which is scheduled to hit U.S. showrooms in the 2nd quarter of this year,” The 60-second spot was created by Venables Bell & Partners. It is called “Cashew” and it was directed by Ringan Ledwidge. They released the ad on Youtube today, but it will air on Sunday, Feb. 3 during the second quarter of the big game. Here’s the video: Electrek’s Take I am not impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that electric vehicles are featured in such a prominent way and kudos to Audi for paying for it, but I feel like it’s a missed opportunity. Audi has the e-tron SUV hitting the market, but they instead make the e-tron GT, which won’t hit the market for 2 years, the star of the ad. Aside from that, the ad is just not that good. It doesn’t highlight any feature or advantage of electric vehicles. I guess Audi is just trying to get more mind shares about electric vehicles, but I would have liked the ad to have a more direct impact and that would have meant trying to actually sell the e-tron electric SUV to Superbowl watchers. I don’t think that this ad does that. Am I being too harsh? Let us know what you think about the ad in the comment section below. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. Subscribe to Electrek on YouTube for exclusive videos and subscribe to the podcast.