RAM did it with Paul Harvey. Apple did it with Walt Whitman (by way of Robin Williams). Visa did it with Amelia Earhart. Now, it's BMW's turn to use the poetic words of a long-ago visionary to sell a modern product.
The automaker is using a recording of Arthur C. Clarke to celebrate the promise of the future, as realized today by the new BMW i series of electric cars.
"Trying to predict the future is a discouraging and hazardous occupation," Clark says in the audio recording from 1964 which serves as the voiceover for BMW i's 60-second launch spot, "Hello Future." The ad, by Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners, will break Friday night during NBC's coverage of the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Russia.
Clark goes on: "If by some miracle a prophet could describe the future exactly as it was going to take place, his predictions would sound so absurd that people everyone would laugh him to scorn. The only thing we can be sure of about the future is that it will be absolutely fantastic. So, if what I say now seems to you to be very reasonable, then I will have failed completely. Only if what I tell you appears absolutely unbelievable have we any chance of visualizing the future as it really will happen."
Stylized, futuristic images of cityscapes, drenched in blue tones, pass one after another before the spot shifts to showing one of the i vehicles, which preens by opening its scissor doors like wings—and is then seen speeding along a darkened tunnel.
Two other 30-second spots, for the i8 plug-in hybrid and the i3 all-electric city car, have a bit more of a narrative. The i8 spot, "Sightings," shows people trying to describe something they've never seen before (of course, it's the i8), while the i3 spot, "SHHH," features a boy who takes his dad's i3 for a joyride with a girl (played by Olivia Crocicchia of Rescue Me) but gets caught in the end thanks to his dad's BMW i Remote App.
"It is a rare and exciting opportunity to launch a new brand and for BMW i, one that requires a world stage," said Trudy Hardy, vp of marketing for BMW of North America. "We look forward to making a bold statement about the future of sustainable mobility."
BMW is going all out for the Olympics. It will also be running digital shorts for the BMW i on NBCOlympics.com, and airing spots for the all-new X5 SUV and its first-ever BMW 2 Series. The automaker also completely redesigned the two-man bobsled that will be used by Team USA this month.
CREDITS
Client: BMW of North America
Agency: Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal+ Partners (kbs+)
Spot: "Hello Future"
President & Co-Chief Creative Officer: Ed Brojerdi
Co-Chief Creative Officer: Izzy DeBellis
Executive Creative Director: Paul Renner
Group Creative Director: Marc Hartzman
Creative Director: Grant Simpson
Creative Director: Will Bright
Group Account Director: Katie Klumper
Account Director: Socrates Papazoglou
Account Supervisor: Chris Belmore
Executive Producer: Robert Beck
Senior Producer: Melissa Tifrere
Production
Stock Partner: Stalkr
Car Footage: Knut Burgdorf @Hochkant Film GmbH & Co. KG
Editor/Editorial: Adam Marshall/Whitehouse Post
Executive Producer: Lauren Hertzberg
Producer: Melanie Klein
Assistant Editor: Matt Schaff
Post EFX: Carbon VFX
Flame Artist: Kieran Walsh
Executive Producer: Frank Devlin
Senior Producer: Paul O’Beirne
Music Supervisor: Woll & Tusk
Song/Artist: Original Score by Found Objects
Color/Colorist: C03/Rob Sciarratta
Audio: Heard City
Mixer: Kieth Reynauld
Spots: "Sightings" and "SHHH"
President & Co-Chief Creative Officer: Ed Brojerdi
Co-Chief Creative Officer: Izzy DeBellis
Executive Creative Director: Paul Renner
Group Creative Director: Marc Hartzman
Associate Creative Director: Liz King
Associate Creative Director: John Hagerty
Group Account Director: Katie Klumper
Account Director: Socrates Papazoglou
Account Supervisor: Chris Belmore
Executive Producer: Robert Beck
Senior Producer: Melissa Tifrere
Production: Bob Industries
Director: Dayton/Faris
Executive Producer: Chuck Ryant and TK Knowles
Line Producer: Bart Lipton
Director of Photography: Tim Hudson
Editorial/Editor: Bikini Edit/Avi Oron
Executive Producer: Gina Pagano
Senior Producer: Brad Wood
Assistant Editor: Gustavo Roman
Post EFX: The Mill
Flame Artist: Nathan Kane
Executive Producer: Melanie Wickham
Producer: Alex Fitzgerald
Music Credits
Music Supervisor (Sightings): Wool & Tusk
Song/Artist: Vladimirs Blues by Max Richter
Music Supervisor (Shhh): Dan Wilcox and Wool & Tusk
Song/Artist: High School Lover by Cayucaus
Color/Colorist: CO3/Tom Poole
Audio: Sonic Union
Mixer: Steve Rosen
