Audi misses the mark

There's something wrong with this commercial.



It's not the positioning. Audi has defined their brand of luxury as more active, more modern and less ostentatious. It's works well against the old school image of Mercedes and the '80s yuppie baggage still being carried around in every BMW.

It's not the quality of the production. The filmwork, CGI, voice over, music are all spectacular.

It's the concept. Using the children's classic "Goodnight Moon" as the inspiration for this spot is completely out of context with the Audi brand. It has nothing to do with the fundamental idea that Audi is "Truth in engineering."

I know the idea is to create contrast, but by the time you actually get to the A8 the tone has been set and there's no dynamic shift at the climax. The color, the texture, the pacing of the spot should shift from the warm, stuffy world of old luxury to a sleek, fast, active environment with the A8 as the star.

Instead it's just more of the same and the focus is on design details that don't have a lot to do with engineering. Door lock, a multifunction display, LED driving lamps are all interesting, but not differentiating.

This car is better than that. Hopefully the next spot will focus less on the 'concept' and more on the truth of the car.