German auto giant BMW outraged drivers with a controversial online marketing video that critics say mocked its older customers and denigrated one of the company’s most successful flagship limousines – the classic 7 series.
It can also reach sales, as drivers turn to social media to say that they have taken the insults “personally” and will not buy another BMW.
One commented, ‘It’s like they really HATE people who have one of their oldest cars. And by ‘older’, I mean done before 2017. ‘
The offensive video – created to highlight BMW’s high-tech ‘iDrive’ smart system in its new iX electric sport utility vehicle – has angered and confused consumers who questioned what the auto giant is trying to achieve by undermining its proud heritage by attacking a legendary car that helped cement the company’s own success.
He also seems to stoke the intergenerational conflict, portraying the baby-boomers – born from 1946 to 1964 – as an angry, narrow-minded, obstinate generation that does not “listen”, condemns modern ideas as “bull *** t ‘, and evokes the answer: ‘It is almost impossible to speak to your generation.’
The video was posted on the BMW website and shared on social networks, including Twitter and YouTube, as part of its participation in the global high-profile Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2021), which currently takes place online.
But it was dismissed as a grossly condescending and ‘awakening’ message that prompted some to go to social media to say they would not buy another BMW.
It even led an owner to ask if ‘everyone in the Munich marketing department is hopelessly addicted to crack?’
Critics point out that the history of the baby boomer generation – with advances made since the ‘permissive’ 1960s in all areas of social, political, cultural and technological life – shows that this portrait could not be further from the truth.
Some longtime BMW customers turned to social media to proclaim that, as a result of such attitudes, they would be looking for another car to buy their next car, with one of them saying bluntly: ‘We are out’.
The video clip, designed to promote the latest version of iDrive to be featured on the next iX electric SUV, was posted on YouTube and the BMW website and shared on social media
In a statement, BMW Munich said: ‘This film was created by BMW AG to highlight the evolution of iDrive over the past 20 years, as the next generation system will be unveiled in the spring.
‘However, this clip is intended for certain world markets and is not being broadcast in the UK or the United States.’
The statement, however, appears to go against the facts.
It ignores the fact that BMW used on Twitter is avidly read around the world, especially in the UK and the USA.
It also raises the question of why the car characters involved were speaking English and with an American accent.
It also disagrees with the fact that BMW explicitly states on its website and in its posts that the clip is directly connected to the Consumer Electronics Show, organized in the United States.
BMW later confirmed that the offensive video was placed on BMW’s global Twitter account – @BMW – managed by parent company BMW AG in Munich and accessible to users anywhere in the world, including the UK and the USA.
However, it appeared that BMW’s arms in the UK and the U.S. were trying to distance themselves from the change, since the video was not broadcast by the local national Twitter accounts – @BMW_UK and @BMWUSA – specifically aimed at customers in those locations.
The dispute follows an earlier controversy over BMW in November, when the company’s marketing gurus posted a tweet in response to an individual’s criticism of iX-style on YouTube, denigrating alleged older customers with the ‘OK, boomer’ joke – causing a huge reaction.
Commentators questioned the reason behind the tweet, especially considering that baby boomers account for about half of BMW sales – particularly in the main U.S. market.
On three occasions, the grumpy old BMW repeats the same expletive in the fantasy conversation between the two cars
BMW’s latest promotional video uses excessive profanity
At the center of the new queue is an online video that aims to show a fantasy argument between two rival BMWs in one of the company’s parking lots – a new and recently launched all-electric iX sport utility vehicle and a historic petrol-powered 7 – 2001 limo series – that face bumper against bumper. Both have an American accent.
The implication seems to be that the iX represents the present and the future, while the 7 series – and its customer base – must be firmly referred to the past.
As if to reinforce this point, the voice of series 7 is portrayed as an elderly man, gray, grumpy and grumpy with old-fashioned, fixed and inflexible attitudes that only likes’ real cars’, repeatedly dismisses modern technology as’ bull *** t ‘, and describes 21st century electric vehicles as’ toy cars’.
In sharp contrast, the character of the iX is that of a young female voice “smarter, better” and apparently enlightened, which refers to the older car as a “grandpa” who “sniffed the gas pump for a long time” and said uncompromisingly: ‘Your time is up.’
The award-winning BMW 7 series has for decades been the flagship of the BMW line, loved by industry captains and successful entrepreneurs, and with armored versions even used by Downing Street and the Metropolitan Police during Blair’s years in government and beyond .
But anyone who expects a respectful nod to the past will be in shock.
At a certain point, the iX with a female voice says to the older male car: ‘Of course you don’t understand. It is almost impossible to talk to your generation. Anyone can talk to me. ‘
She adds: ‘I am the intelligent personal assistant. Do you know what I mean? Intelligent.’
The grumpy car of the older generation can respond with anger only with ‘bull *** t’ and ‘marketing bull *** t’.
The best he can offer in response is ‘I can drive very fast’.
The new car then emits more jokes like “you just don’t listen”.
The tone and content of the short film infuriated BMW drivers and customers of all ages – who also claim that the classic BMW 7 series is, in any case, a much more elegant proposition than the fiery new iX with its similar giant grille to a cartoon.
Motoring leader Hilton Holloway, who writes for Autocar, the oldest motoring magazine in the world, said bluntly about BMW: ‘The whole’ old line is out of date ‘is incredibly stupid.
A Twitter user, Matt Robinson, asked, ‘WHAT is he trying to convey? That BMW’s horrible new products are presumptuous and presumptuous idiots? That your old cars are all GAMMON ?! It’s just HORRIBLE. Still, it makes me want an E65 760Li. ‘
He added: ‘It’s like they really HATE people who have one of their oldest cars. And by ‘older’, I mean done before 2017. Honestly, I take this video personally. I was a BMW man for YEARS. No more.’
He later asked if the reason for the bizarre marketing video was because “is everyone in Munich’s marketing department desperately addicted to crack?”
Richard Aucock, president of the respected UK Guild of Motoring Writers, also highlighted BMW’s’ bull *** t ‘video, describing it as’ crazy’, adding: ‘I hope that some marketing experts can correct and explain to me why this is really reasonable- breaking genius. ‘
Another Twitter user, ‘Bahnstormer Tom’ said, ‘What is BMW doing? You don’t disguise a 760Li and your heritage like that and get away with it. I have owned more BMWs than any other brand and I feel that they have completely alienated people like me. I will never buy a new BMW. Strange marketing strategy. That said, we are talking.
Simon Charlesworth, in a sharp reference to businessman Gerald Ratner – who saw his business explode after rejecting the jewels his company sold to gullible customers as ‘junk’ – said: ‘Even Gerald Ratner would find this incredible.’
Another, Colin Isaac, said: ‘Did they hire Gerald Ratner as a brand consultant …?’
A critic posted on Twitter the previous BMW slogan – ‘The ultimate driving machine’ – defaced and rewritten to read: ‘The ultimate WOKE machine’.
Andy Sherrat posted: ‘I’m starting to think that Mercedes or Audi are paying for BMW’s social content these days. I can’t imagine an alternative justification! ‘
Automotive PR chief Philip Hale said: ‘If BMW were a person, you would be convinced that it was in the midst of a midlife crisis.’
To which automobile caster Alan Bradley replied: ‘If BMW were a person, you would think that she spent a lot of time in the White House.’
The head of the private car rental company James R. Williams said: ‘My 760 Li, 14, drives beautifully and can take me to the south of France in a few minutes at a gas station. The newcomer still has a long way to go before he can deliver that performance. ‘
Ananda Roy said: ‘After 15 years of owning several BMWs – almost all of the new ones specified for our needs and usually 2/3 cars at home, we are out. It happened organically. I love the driving dynamics, but others have come a long way too, and the interiors and exteriors are strange. ‘
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