A BMW Ad Eliot Spitzer Would Love?

Every car company is trying to be as innovative as possible these days and BMW is no exception.

It's getting tougher and tougher to get your message across with people being bombarded by ads and today's youth being harder to reach, through traditional means because of the internet.

So BMW Canada chose to take a risk in VICE magazine for its 1-Series campaign.

But did they go too far?

The ad shows a young girl with the word 'VICE' next to the picture in regular light but when the lights dim a hidden glow in the dark 1-Series teaser ad appears.

Here's what Auto North says in the original article:

"While the typical Vice reader isn’t a great match for the BMW 1-Series they are however influential early adopters who are good at creating buzz and this is why BMW’s media company decided to go with the ad in this magazine."

The Spies want to know if you think the ad is being too suggestive or out of line...and is there a hidden message in the ad?

Is this a classless ad from a classy company?

Can ad agencies be too risqué and turn off more potential customers who might be offended by an ad campaign like this?



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no1listensanyway - 3/23/2008 9:55:58 PM

+4 Boost

Press is press. Whether positive or negative, its still free awarness/PR for the firm putting out the ad. I do not see how BMW can loose here.

Porschinator - 3/24/2008 12:37:23 PM

+3 Boost

Exactly..look how much free advertising from articles.

jgf330xi - 3/23/2008 11:03:21 PM

+2 Boost

Reminded me on this Porsche commercial.. Very suggestive!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJBN24YnjEQ

Audiphile - 3/24/2008 8:40:46 AM

+2 Boost

LOL - very suggestive indeed! And funny!

mac075 - 3/24/2008 12:27:14 AM

+5 Boost

Please explain what the problem here is? How come this kind of brilliant advertising wasn't thought of sooner. Who cares what's on the cover of a magazine, when the lights come off, it's an ingenious reminder that the all new 1-series is lurking... perhaps a dream car for the readers of said magazine... regardless, where is the harm? We are bombarded by advertisements everywhere we look today with cell phones being the next wave where advertisers will cash in. No one complains when a one hour television show is really much shorter and no one counts how many automotive commercials run during that time. I think that this glow in the dark cover was an absolute success and we'll be seeing more of this type of gumption in the future.

KZ258 - 3/24/2008 1:06:41 AM

+4 Boost

nope. i see no hidden message here ;) you need to have humor to understand the ad. there is nothing wrong with it

Agent001 - 3/24/2008 1:14:36 AM

-6 Boost

If it was an adult I would agree with you but the girl in this photo looks about 14.

Plus the word VICE next to her and the placement of the headlights seem very un-BMW.

22 year old girl, no issue...underage girl, very shaky.

001

henbmw - 3/24/2008 9:12:16 AM

+4 Boost

Vice is the name of the magazine....

And the magazine chose the photo, it had nothing to do with BMW. BMW simply rented cover space.

JRobUSC - 3/25/2008 11:42:34 AM

+1 Boost

001, I think you're reading too much into the photo. A quick Google search to figure out what VICE magazine was yielded this:

"Vice is a free glossy magazine founded in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and currently based in New York City that covers contemporary independent arts and youth culture. The magazine's readership comprises young postcollegiate bohemians, often labelled "hipsters." Known for its controversial content, it often strikes a sardonic and ironic pose on debauchery, sex, drugs, violence, and social issues involving race and economic class."

VICE might be the name of the magazine but it's not like it's a magazine catering to underage sexploitation. If it was I doubt BMW would advertise in it. So the magazine stuck a picture of a young girl on the cover. Big deal. It's not like she was in a compromising position. Besides, the ad and the photo are mutually exclusive, they have nothing to do with one another. When the lights go out you see a glowing 1-Series ad that has nothing to do with the photo on the cover that you can see when the lights are on.

Much ado about nothing.

brammer - 3/24/2008 1:24:07 AM

+4 Boost

The glow ad is on the COVER of the magazine.. thus, the girl really has nothing to do with the BMW ad. She just happened to be on the cover.

Regardless, the glow idea is pretty freakin cool.

QuickShifter - 3/24/2008 9:21:11 AM

+3 Boost

Heyyy! I saw some other great 1-Series advertising in my AutoWeek magazine... In sort'f a Mad Magazine style (the way tiny cartoons were placed all around the 'articles'), BMW has 'hidden' their 1-Series ad down by the page numbers... of almost every pages!!! For example...

4: Total numbers of comfortable seats in the all-new BMW 1 Series [small photo of car]

6: Number of gears int he all-new BMW 1 Series transmission [small photo of car]

8: Average number of hours people waste sleeping when they could be driving he all-new BMW 1 Series [small photo of car]

And so on... all the way up to page 48! ("Number of months your all-new 1 Series is covered under BMW's Ultimate Service plan." [small photo of car])

I think it's BRILLIANT!!!

Your thoughts? Has anyone seen this in other car-enthusiast magazines as well?

bmwman1963 - 3/24/2008 4:17:00 PM

+1 Boost

Watch the other's fall in line behind BMW's brilliant advertising plan.

BMW continues to be the leader in innovative thinking whether it be automotive, marketing or advertising, etc.