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Audi confronts equal pay for women in Super Bowl ad

Commentary: Instead of frantically selling you a car, Audi steers into the realm of social issues.

Chris Matyszczyk
2 min read
Audi/Screenshot by CNET

Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that's taken over our lives.


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A powerful message.

Audi/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET

The Super Bowl used to be garlanded with car ads, each promising that its car was more exciting than the last.

Perhaps those who make car ads are realizing that excitement can come in many different forms.

Perhaps they're also realizing that this year's Super Bowl may be unlike others.

We have a president who in the early days of 2017 hasn't yet secured deep-rooted approval. We have fundamental social and political issues being championed and challenged. Witness the Women's March events the day after Inauguration Day. Witness the president's executive order stopping citizens of certain countries before they can enter the US, and the protests in response to it.

Audi has decided to confront one of those issues. Its Super Bowl ad presents a father who worries about the future and the way women will be seen in it.

"What do I tell my daughter?" he begins. "Do I tell her that her grandpa is worth more than her grandma? That her dad is worth more than her mom?"

As we're listening to this, we see the daughter racing her downhill cart.

"Do I tell her," the voice continues, "that despite her education, her drive, her skills, her intelligence, she will automatically be valued less than every man she ever meets?"

I won't spoil the ending. The message, however, is one that is especially relevant in tech. The industry that prides itself on its supposed progressiveness hasn't shown too much progression when it comes to equal pay for women.

You'd think it might lead the way. It certainly thinks it does.

This ad isn't the only one that will steps into the socio-political arena during the Super Bowl. Budweiser will be addressing immigration.

It seems that Sunday will be a day to occasionally contemplate bigger issues than whether New England quarterback Tom Brady prefers deflated footballs.

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