Super Bowl ad spots are highly coveted, and if given the chance, many companies over the years have used the opportunity not only to sell their product, but also to send a powerful (and sometimes controversial) message.
This year, the commercials of Super Bowl LI were no different. But one ad in particular — by Audi USA — seems to have gotten the most tongues wagging. In the last 24 hours, it’s received both high praise and criticism for its ad about equal pay and equal opportunities for girls.
The video advertisement depicts a time-honored American tradition: a kids’ go-cart race. Filmed in a sepia tone, the commercial takes on an almost vintage look, with modern-day kids. This undertone fits with the poignant message that women’s rights have been fought over for centuries, but still remain an issue today.
The ad includes several shots of a blonde, race-car driving girl competing and eventually winning a go-cart race — in which her fellow competitors are boys. It ends with the girl walking alongside her dad as they make their way towards his Audi, holding her well-deserved trophy. Her dad narrates the entire commercial, wondering aloud if he’ll have to tell his daughter “that her grandpa was worth more than her grandma?” Or what about that “her dad is worth more than her mom?”
“Do I tell her that despite her education, her drive, her skills, her intelligence, she will automatically be valued as less than every man she ever meets?” he continues.
But as he she crosses the finish line in first place, he wonders, “Or maybe I’ll be able to tell her something different.”
Audi of America’s ad is a powerful one, highlighting the fight women and girls still face around the world for equal opportunities, equal rights, and equal pay. And while many believe the wage gap between men and women is a myth, statistics show otherwise. According to the American Association of University Women (which used data from the U.S. Census Bureau as their factual basis), women earn on average 80% of what men do in the U.S. Although the gap has been decreasing since the 70s, this growth has slowed and at this rate, equal pay is predicted in 2152. The AAUW also graphs the gap per state — with Wyoming having the largest gap at 64% and New York having the smallest gap at 89%.
The challenges women face to break through the proverbial glass ceiling is most evident in areas like science and engineering as well as politics. Only 13% of the engineering workforce is female, a number that an MIT article attributes to women feeling marginalized, “especially during internships, other summer work opportunities, or team-based educational activities.”
“In those situations,” the article points out, “gender dynamics seem to generate more opportunities for men to work on the most challenging problems, while women tend to be assigned routine tasks or simple managerial duties.”
Women hold less than 20% of the seats in the U.S. Congress, and we all know that just last year, for the very first time, a woman was nominated for the presidency by a major political party. We’ve come a long way in proving ourselves worthy of leadership positions, capable of handling any job a man has, and fighting for equality, but our work is far from over.
And even in Hollywood and in professional sports, women often take a backseat to men. Actresses like Jennifer Lawrence and Emmy Rossum have made headlines in their demands to pay that is equal to their male costars. The U.S. national women’s soccer team did the same, after winning the Women’s World Cup last July. And even in last year’s Olympics in Rio, time after time women faced examples of sexism — the most notable example being the headline “Phelps ties for silver in 100 fly” with “Ledecky sets world record in women’s 800 freestyle” listed as a secondary byline underneath.
Critics of Audi USA’s ad may claim that the wage gap is a myth. They may even claim sexism is a thing of the past. They probably were not fans of the women’s march. But I’m willing to bet the 2.9 million people who marched around the world think this ad was on-point. I’m one of them, and for myself and my daughter, I say thank you. And yes, we will continue to fight so that we can tell our girls “something different.”