Audi Super Bowl ad oozes drama

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2008 | by Theresa Howard

NEW YORK -- Audi is betting it can rev up its image with a parody of rivals in a Super Bowl commercial backed by a Hollywood-size production budget.

The Volkswagen-owned carmaker is looking to crown itself as the new luxury auto brand. Audi's first Big Game ad in 20 years features its new $109,000 R8 speed machine. It uses a send-up of an iconic scene from The Godfather to poke fun, without naming names, at luxury car rivals.

"We don't look at this as a car ad as much as we look at it as a statement," says Scott Keogh, vice president of marketing at Audi. "The message we want to send is between Old World and New World and say that Audi is the New World.

"The spot sets up old luxury as excessive extravagance. Audi is not about excess, it's about...