RE: Audi R18: PH Ad Break

RE: Audi R18: PH Ad Break

Friday 9th August 2013

Audi R18: PH Ad Break

Audi's Le Mans winner on the school run in German TV ad



We've already celebrated Audi's clever play on daft advertising regs with its rather wonderful R8 advert. Well, here's another for the RS6 that'd definitely fall foul of our regulatory nannies.

Forget the Zafira, this WOULD be daddy cool
Forget the Zafira, this WOULD be daddy cool
On the face of it transposing the Terminator-esque R18 E-Tron Quattro Le Mans racer into everyday driving situations like the school run, daily commute or after-hours 'lifestyle' sportiness is a cool way of getting that motorsport Vorsprung Durch Technik message out there.

But even this seemingly benign twist on the race on Sunday, sell on Monday ethos that's underpinned car marketing from the very first days of the automobile wouldn't get past censors who'd make Mary Whitehouse's National Viewers' and Listeners' Association seem like a bunch of free-thinking libertarians. Why? "There should be no suggestion that competitive sport has been used in the development of increased power, speed etc in road cars" says section 11.9.2 of the BCAP Television Advertising Code.

Now, those of us of a more pedantic bent could argue there's naff-all technology transfer between the R18's diesel hybrid powertrain and the RS6's V8 petrol motor and the ad could run. Picking a lazy stereotype purely for the purposes of illustrating an example - honest - if the advert had depicted a diesel powered A6 with its LED headlights inches off the bumper of a Prius in the Autobahn fast lane that'd have really shown how endurance racing imitates life on the roads.

Well, it's got LED lights a bit like the racer
Well, it's got LED lights a bit like the racer
Actually, carried off with a bit of self deprecating humour that'd make quite an amusing ad. 'Self deprecating humour' probably isn't in the Audi marketing lexicon though and nor, sadly, will cool ads like this featuring racing cars bombing around town centres be seen on British TV any time soon. But you can watch it here!

 

 

 

 

Author
Discussion

robinessex

Original Poster:

11,038 posts

180 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
If I was Audi, I'd run the ad, and tell the do gooders to get stuffed. Probably worth it for all the free publicity they'd get.

garypotter

1,465 posts

149 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
nds me of the porsche le mans cars of the 70' that were used on the road in Australia (I think)

CBR JGWRR

6,518 posts

148 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
The estate at the end ruins it really...

Betty Cumberdale

163 posts

133 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
Great ad but what a load of Bullst.

M@1975

591 posts

226 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
I love Audi's current take on advertising, well done to their current ad gency. Shame it fails to translate into the millions of dull as hell Audis in the driveways of new build homes throughout the country.

Just looked out into the car park at work. I can see 9 Audis from here and thats by no means all of them, we only have 102 people in this office... Fair play to the toung lad in the RS5 but the rest are all mouth, no trousers diesels and they all got the SLine version, shocker.

Prancing Hippo

229 posts

147 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
Agree with the above, but any of us would love to 'live' the ad for a day... or week... or year!

Wife: 'Are you coming to the shops with me'.
Husband: 'Hell yeah - lets go!' (queue R18 firing up...).

Kronstein

294 posts

128 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
Really inventive. Anyone know the agency?

Carnnoisseur

531 posts

153 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
I actually really liked the ad, RS6 looks well also

SimonC6R

19 posts

130 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
I'm amazed that they didn't slip in anything about them winning the 24H this year. They usually do.

WokkaWokka

698 posts

138 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
Great ad. Really cool.

I love the ad for the R8 V10 too, the one where it has no rear section.

BBS-LM

3,972 posts

223 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
Nicely played.

NGK210

2,839 posts

144 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
Bloody brilliant! Who says the Germans don't have a sense of humour?

Makes me want a current RS6 even more. Job done, Mr Ad Man.

vincegail

2,451 posts

154 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
"There should be no suggestion that competitive sport has been used in the development of increased power, speed etc in road cars"

And fuel efficiency, safety features, better tyres etc. etc.? Are those suggestions allowed?

NGK210

2,839 posts

144 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
vincegail said:
"There should be no suggestion that competitive sport has been used in the development of increased power, speed etc in road cars"

And fuel efficiency, safety features, better tyres etc. etc.? Are those suggestions allowed?

vincegail

2,451 posts

154 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
You cannot suggest that your car has more power and speed because of racing in your adverts. Because power and speed are considered 'bad'.

'Good' things like fuel efficiency, safety features (windscreen wipers originated in racing, as did discbrakes to name a few) and better tyres all hugely benefit from racing. Racing improves the breed. Are these allowed to mention in your adverts? Or is mentioning racing at all considered a big no-no in the UK?

Gorbyrev

1,160 posts

153 months

Friday 9th August 2013
quotequote all
ALERT! The new RS6 has a diesel hybrid powertrain with a redline of 4500rpm. Hey, wait a minute......?!

sisu

2,560 posts

172 months

Saturday 10th August 2013
quotequote all
M@1975 said:
Shame it fails to translate into the millions of dull as hell Audis in the driveways of new build home throughout the country..
I always find this odd in the UK. Everyone has a new car every 2-3 years even if they like the car and hate the new version. Yet that doesn't traslate to where you live. So you see all these brand new flash cars outside a damp terraced or semi-detached houses.
There is a stigma in building a new house and god forbid you building it in anything other than brick.
If you have a 2 car garage and don't live in the countryside you would probably be in the market for a new RS6.

snapper213

21 posts

154 months

Sunday 11th August 2013
quotequote all
sisu said:
I always find this odd in the UK. Everyone has a new car every 2-3 years even if they like the car and hate the new version. Yet that doesn't traslate to where you live. So you see all these brand new flash cars outside a damp terraced or semi-detached houses.
There is a stigma in building a new house and god forbid you building it in anything other than brick.
If you have a 2 car garage and don't live in the countryside you would probably be in the market for a new RS6.
This is mainly down to the ridiculous house prices in the UK (certainly in the South).
For the price of a 4/5 bedroom detached house in France/Germany you can get a 2/3 bed terraced in the south of England.

Also, people aren't allowed to just build a new modern house wherever they want, there are very strict planning laws.

predding

455 posts

215 months

Tuesday 20th August 2013
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Carnnoisseur said:
I actually really liked the ad, RS6 looks well also
+1 If someone was paying me to tow the fuel bowser around behind it, would certainly be in my top 5...