Audi is under a heap of criticism over its gender pay equality Super Bowl ad
In the ad, a father watches his daughter in a downhill cart race and thinks about whether she is being judged based on her gender. At the core of the ad is whether she will be paid less than a man, despite her talents.
Some viewers have reacted on social media by lashing out at the car company and criticizing it for allegedly not practicing what was being advocated in the ad.
Since the ad was posted on YouTube, the video has received nearly 35,000 dislikes to just under 3,000 likes. Data from social media research firm Networked Insights found that 25% of the comments made across social media sites about the ad were negative, The Wall Street Journal reported.
One YouTube user, JebBlack2010, commented "What do i tell my daughter? That there is this imaginary leftist/feminist wall keeping her from aspiring to be great? Maybe."
Rather than avoiding the conflict Audi is responding to negative comments.
No women sit on Audi's Management Board and its 14 person American executive team only has two women. In the press release for the Super Bowl ad, the car company said it was publicly committed to supporting women's pay equality and pointed out that half of the candidates for its graduate internship program must be female.
Celebrities and other high profile people, like "Agents of Shield" actress Constance Zimmer came out in support of the ad. Google's director of ad marketing Tara Walpert Levy even pushed her followers to go on YouTube and show support.