Audi's gender diversity
Of course, Audi appears to have more work to do in increasing the gender diversity in the ranks of its top executives. Only two of the 14-member Audi USA executive team are female -- Jeri Ward, senior vice president; and Christine Gaspar, senior director of human resources, according to the Audi USA website.
Asked to respond, Angelo said in a statement: "Today, women comprise roughly 12 percent of Audi (USA) senior management workforce, including our senior VP, chief communications officer and senior director of human resources. In 2017 and beyond, we continue to support pay equality and pledge to put aggressive hiring and development strategies in place to increase the number of women in our workforce, at all levels."
The press release cited some of the programs Audi backs to promote gender equality. That includes a graduate internship program where 50 percent of enrollment must be female. Audi this year partnered with the American Film Institute's annual "AFI Fest" event to create an Audi fellowship scholarship program that grants one promising female director enrollment in the Afi Conservatory.
The conservatory is described as a "hands-on, production-based environment" where enrollees are "trained by a group of dedicated working professionals from the film and television communities," according to the Afi website.
As part of its Super Bowl ad, Audi is promoting the #DriveProgress hashtag, which the automaker says will be used in the coming year to promote new and ongoing initiatives. Audi will also run a custom Snapchat filter nationally that will encourage fans to "participate in the #DriveProgress conversation by sharing their own stories," according to the press release.
Audi's gender equality efforts are not limited to the U.S. The automaker's Spanish division late last year released an animated digital video ad called "the doll that chose to drive" that sought to break down toy stereotypes during the Christmas season.
Contributing: Ann Christine Diaz