BMW’s Brand Today: Very Tacky & Even More Stupid
Two Critical Bits of Data:
1. The percentage of vehicle purchases made by women ranges from 50 to 90%, depending on the automaker. (Diversity Best Practices, 2005 WOW! Quick Facts: Women publication)
2. Women influence over 80 percent of all automotive sales(CNW Marketing Research)
So, what on earth was BMW (not) thinking with this jail bait ad?
The “call to action” You Know You’re Not The First (selling “BMW Premium Selection” Used Cars) So, this girl, who looks all of 14, is already used? Wonder how the senior management of BMW would feel if this was a photo of their daughter or granddaughter?
…and a reader recently commented that I was needlessly repeating myself about “marketing to women.” People already get that, don’t they? Well, obviously not.
By way of Yvonne DiVita who added her thoughts re Sabine Clappaert’s post Wanted: Second-Hand Woman for sheer driving pleasure
Even if I didn’t care about the objectification of a very, very young woman - this ad is so incredibly tacky and tasteless, it leaves me (almost) speechless. This from a supposedly upscale car brand? Comparing a woman (of any age) to a used car? My highly professional and expert reaction about this marketing: Yecccchhhhh….and Ewwwww…
Classy, BMW, classy. What’s next? Sharon Stone with “The Ultimate Driving Machine” splashed across her thighs? I can hear the “edgy and brilliant” ad guys now…“Hey, old tag line, old broad, perfect fit! And, everyone still remembers that scene in Basic Instinct!” I dunno - maybe they’ve been watching too many episodes of Mad Men.
If BMW did this to get attention: see the two data points above. While this ad was created by BBDO, Greece (which I seem to recall ain’t a hotbed of sexual equality), somebody at BMW had to approve the thing.
Tags: marketing, marketing to women, marketing troubleshooting, advertising, BMW, BMW ads
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July 24th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Mary,
I’ve noticed for years that much of the advertising for “upscale” car brands is an embarrassment. (Or should be.) You’ll always see arrogance, self-importance, and cars tooling wrecklessly around traffic. The implicit message: the others on the road are insignificant morons who “get in the way” and laws were for the little people.
It seems to suggest that their audience is simply the young turks in the business world, whose tastes and behaviors haven’t really changed much since they were annoying teenage punks. They’re just better financed now.
And as for the sex sell, the BMW ad is, in my view, not much worse than the insipid Cadillac spots in which Kate Walsh growls “When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?”
Puke, puke,puke. And I’m a guy.
July 24th, 2008 at 7:10 am
Mike,
Brings to mind the old Dudley Moore movie about an ad man that decided to start telling the truth (What was the name of it???) He came up with “Buy this car and get laid”
From this woman’s perspective, the Caddy commercial isn’t nearly as offensive as the BMW ad. Kate is grown, clothed and in control. She’s the driver and (by assumption) the buyer. Not a great ad, but then I don’t think many (any?) of the car ads are very good. At best they’re boring (Driving the winding road; sitting on top of a butte in Arizona, etc.)
As for the Young Turks, the real irony is that many of those oh-so-cool, oh-so-cutting-edge guys…still live at home with Mom (another disturbing trend of recent years.) It’s the only way they could afford to buy a Beemer, used or otherwise.
July 26th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
[…] Schmit calls the ad Very Tacky and Very Stupid. I couldn’t agree […]
August 10th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I think this is a great ad, and yes it is probably not aimed at women, but at adult men, probably middle aged, which is by far the biggest target for BMW after all. Maybe 50% of car purchases are made by woman, but I don’t think that gos for BMWs.
Besides, I really don’t see how you think this girl is under aged. She just isn’t.
And what BMW probably suggests is “Don’t matter if our cars are second hand and are already driven in. They look and feel brand new!”.
It’s a briljant ad which attracts the eyes of almost every potential buyer. And I think you should just look at it and get the little joke, the wink of the eye in this ad. I think that if you can’t do that, you’re probably a grumpy old feminist.
August 11th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Yes, indeed. I should find humor in comparing a woman to a used car. Please. Unfortunately, (many) men simply cannot understand why a woman (grumpy or otherwise) would find this offensive. Further, this is supposed to be a premium car brand - not one of the street car/hot rod after market product ads (where you’ll be thrilled to know - the scantily clad babe in sky-high hooker stilettos is alive and well.)
“She just isn’t” - so, you know her? Certainly I doubt the model is underage, but she’s certainly made up to look as young as possible (otherwise, the “brilliant” line wouldn’t have the “brilliance.”)
Those middle-aged men? Most of them are asking the wife/girlfriend about the car purchase.
Lastly, “attracts the eye” - well, maybe. But there are so many ads with beautiful women, what’s one more? It’s the call to action/headline that’s provocative - and how many people are going to actually slow down in the flipping to read it? (Which I suppose is good news for us “grumpy old feminists.”)
Finally I always wonder - why is “feminist” supposed to be an insult?