Audi Tops Auto Twitter Engagement in February

Cars and Drivers

Published: March 14, 2017 6:20 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 2:00 pm

Does Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) sell cars? If so, Audi was helped by the social medium in February. It topped the list of all car brands in Twitter engagement during February, according to research firm ListenFirst Media.

The data show that Audi’s Super Bowl ad that focused on gender inequality drew a large response, but not all of it positive. The ad shows a young girl who wins a soap box derby race against several boys, to a large extent because of guts and smart driving. And it may have been the debate about whether the marketing message was good or bad for women that accounted for part of the Twitter activity. A writer from sports site SB Nation wrote:

It can’t be ignored that this is an advertisement for a car company which has a vested interest in appealing to not only fathers, but also women and girls who will grow to be women who will want to drive cars. It’s a commercial that will air during the most watched event in the United States, the Super Bowl, and thus will have a grand audience of these demographics to connect to. It’s first and foremost, an effort to sell a product.

With that being said, Audi’s ad for the Super Bowl is one of the best yet for this year and in recent memory.

A writer for Fortune took an opposite view:

The positive pay-off at the end of the spot can’t overcome the negatives that precede it. Yes, she wins the race, but only after it told viewers that no matter how well women do, it won’t be taken seriously. The little girl in the go-cart gets to ride home with her dad in a nice looking Audi, but is that adequate consolation?

ListenFirst Media reported:

Audi’s tweet (about the commercial), which accrued more than 34,000 likes and nearly 12,000 retweets, was posted less than two weeks after the Jan. 21 Women’s March on Washington, D.C. on Jan. 21.

The number of tweets could be much ado about nothing. In the world of Twitter, 34,000 likes is impressive, but nowhere near record-breaking. Audi spent an estimated $2 million for the commercial. That is a lot of money per “like.”