Audi Taps 'Goodnight Moon' Nostagia For New Ad (via brandchannel)

Audi Taps 'Goodnight Moon' Nostagia For New Ad

Posted by Abe Sauer on January 17, 2011 10:00 AM

A great keen communication / There was a new ad
A Super Bowl tradition / Audi's attempt to
Appeal to the nostalgia of a nation...
In a move that mixes a number of concepts, Audi has debuted a new 60-second TV ad meant as a prelude to the automaker's Super Bowl ad. The ad, Audi told us in its announcement, "taps into viewers’ notions of old luxury with the help of an unlikely literary inspiration: Goodnight Moon, the 1947 children’s book by Margaret Wise Brown" by mirroring "the cadence and rhyme scheme of the original." Audi's co-opting of the classic book follows a recent resurgence of its profile. But does it make any sense?

Audi says it used Goodnight Moon as its inspiration because it "methodically says goodnight to the age of old luxury, defined by gluttony and excess" and introduces the new Audi A8 luxury sedan, "the apex of Audi’s new luxury lineup." How exactly the A8, which costs $80,000, is itself not somehow "excess" is not addressed. As one commenter on the Audi Facebook page said of the ad, "Goodnight high price? No? Well then this ad is total BS, isn't it?"

Many other reactions are positive, though more toward the Audi A8 itself than the commercial.

Viewers themselves can decide if the "Goodnight Moon" theme makes any sense in the context Audi has shoehorned it into, if those viewers make the connection at all. Audi itself is going whole hog with the concept though, making Google Adwords buys against searches for "Goodnight Moon."

There has been a bit of a Goodnight, Moon renaissance of late, with the classic book finding a new popularity amongst hip parents.
Not only is there now a Goodnight Moon live musical show but the book has also become a staple of pop culture, used to make some fun, or make a point. There is the political parody "Goodnight Bush" and the Star Wars-themed "Goodnight Forest Moon" (see also, "Goodnight Dune"). "Boom Baby Moon" parodies modern baby raising while "Goodnight Keith Moon" is meant to appeal to music nerds. 

Audi openly admits that it is playing on nostalgia for the popular children's tale. In the brand's press release, Scott Keogh, chief marketing officer for Audi of America, is quoted: “Research shows that consumer impressions are based in nostalgia and formed at a very young age. In ‘Goodnight’ Audi taps into these memories to break through the nostalgia and re-establish what it means to achieve luxury."

Some consumers might find this leveraging of nostalgia distasteful. Others may shrug. It's noteworthy that Audi is not the first to leverage Goodnight Moon to attract some attention (though it may be the most well known). If Moon fans are looking to be upset about something they might want to start with Fallout Boy musician Pete Wentz's short film Goodnight Moon from a couple years ago.

There is even a Vermont mattress retailer that adopted the book's name.

Audi isn't the only automaker positioning itself as the brand throwing off the shackles of the old ways and redefining luxury. Chrylser ads currently running claim its brand is doing the same thing.
Without having yet seen the automaker's Super Bowl ad, it remains to be seen if Audi's unique approach will be a runaway success — or amount to a bowl full of mush.