Over one hundred million people viewed the Super Bowl game that took place this year. Of those millions and millions of viewers, many of them only tune in to the big game in order to watch the infamous commercials that come along with it. Each year the competition to get a spot in a commercial break increases and companies pay millions to earn just a small time slot during the breaks. These commercials are known to be the funniest, most effective and touching ones of their kind and they bring a significant amount of Super Bowl watchers to the table. Each company attempts to get its argument across in their commercial by using either or combining ethos, pathos and logos appeals. In Audi's 2016 Super Bowl commercial, they used pathos appeals to get across their effective argument that the new Audi R8 goes above and beyond all other vehicles and will bring out the best in those who choose to drive it. 

In only one minute and thirty seconds, Audi saturated their screen time with copious amounts of pathos and close to none when it comes to ethos or logos appeals. The commercial begins playing with viewer's emotions right from the start when we hear a voice over of an old tape recording from the beginning days of space exploration. The recording says "Mr. President, thank you for choosing the moon," and another voice states "This has to be the proudest day of our lives" (Video). At this point the only things we have seen are various clips showing the belongings in someone's home, pictures of astronauts hanging on the wall, glass cases full of the history of the United States race to space and a view of a home office that is not in use anymore. These clips along with the voice recordings bring emotion to viewers who remember this extremely prideful and exciting time in America's history and those who take pride in this country and its past.  The largest portion of pathos appeal is seeing the subject in the video, an elderly man, who has no appetite and seems depressed. The subject's son arrives at the scene and upon seeing his father's lifelessness, he says "Okay commander, come with me" (Video). Here, a small portion of ethos is used as the older man is given credibility of being a commander, confirming that he was the astronaut in all of the old photos hanging on the wall. Here, again, viewers are infused with emotion seeing how this man's best days of living such a courageous and exciting life as an astronaut are behind him, and his knowledge of this has brought him to his lowest point. 

Another significant pathos appeal is used when the son leads his dad outside, and at the first sight of the Audi R8, David Bowie's "Starman" starts to play. This song has an enormous impact on viewer's emotions since it has only been about two months since the famous singer-songwriter passed away. People are now reminiscing Bowie's legacy and this song as one of his biggest hits. The song flows perfectly with the commercial as we finally hear Bowie's voice sing "There's a starman, waiting in the sky," right as we see a flashback clip of the rocket launching and a clip of the older commander as he races off in the car with his son. The heart strings of the audience are touched as they watch life come back into the eyes of the previously passionless and hopeless elderly man. They see him transform into his younger, dauntless self again, racing in the Audi R8 with his son. Happiness is brought into viewer's hearts by witnessing the retired commander come back to life. With flawlessly edited clips of the father driving his son's new Audi switching back and forth with clips of the rocket launching and seeing him as a spirited young astronaut, the audience recognizes how the Audi R8's speed reinvents the old man. The Audience is satisfied with this thought. 

Three-fourths of the way through the commercial during rotating clips of the Audi and the rocket, the screen resolves to a black background that brings focus to the text that reads, "Choosing the moon brings out the best in us" (Video). Here, Audi's argument is now laid out in front of the audience. Their argument is that by choosing to drive the new Audi R8, people are essentially choosing to go above and beyond like the astronauts did when going to the moon, and that this car will bring out the best in its drivers just like the race to space and the Audi brought out in the astronaut. The audience affiliates such passion, pride, excitement and heroism of being an astronaut launching into space of that with driving the new Audi. The newfound exhilaration expressed by the father and his son is appealing to viewers and they want to experience this too. This commercial effects a large range of ages by appealing to the older audience who have maybe lost their passion in what they do and are also seeking a revamped liveliness, and appealing to the younger audience who want to continue to live an exhilarating and purposeful life. Audi's goal of their commercial is to show the audience that the new Audi R8 can be that fix or continuation of greatness that they are searching for. 

By using a retired and depressed astronaut who is brought back to a life of passion and courage by a car, Audi successfully convinces the audience that their new vehicle goes above and beyond others and that it will bring out the absolute best in those who drive it. The company uses numerous pathos appeals such as the setting and voice recordings in the beginning, the state of the elderly man, using David Bowie's hit "Starman", and the improved mental state of the old commander at the end to successfully pull on the heart strings of the audience and leave them thinking about what the new Audi could possibly do for them.  

