BMW Blows It With Ad Campaign Innuendo

Quick. What comes to mind when you see a close up of a flaxen-haired young lass with pouty lips and bedroom eyes that includes this caption, "You know you're not the first?" A slightly used BMW, no doubt!

The luxury car brand just made a big mistake by introducing an ad campaign for their used models and leaning oh-so-heavily on sexual innuendo (bet you hadn't caught that...). All of this to garner attention from those buyers who might otherwise appreciate the status and smooth ride (yikes, everything I write can now be considered innuendo) or simply want a vehicle with a great reputation. How does a sleazy ad campaign help here? Hmmm.

Two things (among many) to consider from the marketing angle:

1) Certainly, cars -- especially luxury brands -- tend to still be pitched to men. Tradition is hard to fight. But, need that pitch be so extremely "male" that it takes the shine off a brand that is otherwise held in high regard by affluent men and women? And, are the men for whom this approach might seriously appeal truly the target market for cars that are priced beyond most people's budgets?

2) Marketing to men can be as challenging as marketing to women. In both cases, and for brands that actually serve both genders (when you think about it, those are the majority), the idea is to use the humor, inside joke, copy tone, or graphic style that might appeal mainly to the core market, yet not horrify and inflame anyone else who may be just outside that core. Do you see where I'm going?

This ad is practically soft-core porn, which is anyone's private-time prerogative, but in an era of very sophisticated consumers with high expectations of brands and advertising, it is...unwise.

The one additional influence that so comes into play in this place and time is: the wrath of bloggers who learn of it, particularly those who are female. No surprise there, and BMW should have known better than to tempt fate this way.

Even if this particular ad campaign is only running in very few publications and/or in perhaps solely a few European countries, word has gotten around. I learned of it via the Muse Communication blog, which had seen it first on Copyranter (Look for the title: "My car is a woman. My right foot is a penis."). To say that the online discussions I've seen in the past 24 hours are vehement would be to put it mildly.

Be careful what you wish for, BMW, and try to calm your engines.

Follow Andrea Learned on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AndreaLearned

Comments

[KillTheMessenger]

Do they have a hybrid that gets at least 45mpg? If not, I am not interested, no matter what the ad campaign looks like.

And if someone ever thought that a BMW is first and foremost anything else than a (wo)manhood enhancer, they have never taken a good look at the men and women who like to drive BMWs.

[3rdEye]

As a Black person, should I be upset by McDonald's showing black people pop-locking and scratching records to McDonald's hamburgers; anything by BET; or Fox & Friends berating Barack Obama? No, those images were not meant to entice me. The goal of any advertiser is to study the target market, find what makes them tick, and then play on those assumption­s/assertat­ions. The advertiser owes nothing to any other demographic. I still buy McDonald's when hungry (and nothing else is available), occasionally watch BET's trash, and view Fox & Friends as a viable source of information - no matter how opposite my personal views.

If the Greek people understand this to be their culture, then BMW is only using that to sell cars...nothing else. They don't care how high a self-esteem Amercian women have of themselves, or whether they've offended anyone that doesn't think young women should be seen as sex objects, as long as it draws eyes and attention. The sad truth is, in many cultures (even ours) young women are seen as sex objects - whether anyone is willing to admit it or not. I'm only defending the choice to release this as a realization that everything we wish to be is not necessarily true. Congradulations people, you've done what BMW could not have done by itself, increased the reach and frequency of smut.

[CologneCitizen]

Exactly, your post is 100% on target. BMW couldn't care less about this excitement. They get across to their aim group, forget the rest. As cynical this may be, advertising often works in polarizing various groups. So in any case points taken by BMW. I would bet: if you really consider to buy one of their cars, this ad will not turn you off.

[rmreddicks]

Why would anyone want one of these things to begin with? Send them packing by not even considering buying,

[eshepard]

As I've said elsewhere, it's a very cheesy ad - reminiscent of an ad for Axe body spray. It's tacky enough as is - but the fact that the girl looks all of 15 makes it that much worse. However, I do wonder what fantastic brand of conditioner she uses.

[marlovian]

Pedal to the metal, ladies, and party while we can because the lights are going out sometime soon. When your tires are screaming in ecstasy just about the time you lean over and are looking into the abyss, a BMW is a good place to be.

[rmreddicks]

Are you trying to be creepy or is that poor satire?

[Rule Of Law]

Andrea, interesting take on advertising. I've raised this issue re Huffpo's use of images and articles to increase hits and readership. Just today, on the front page we have Angelina's supple pouting decolatage, and just below a full, red lipped woman's mouth doing something to a--gasp, could it be the mother of double entendres, a cherry? And over on the Business News page--the man's page?--we have or the fifth day in a row, the barebreasted biker babe! I guess the economy is so bad she can't afford a top?

I won't defend BMW's campaign--real or imagined--but cars have always been female just as ships have, and the sexual connotation is an old one. The internet, and especially Huffpo as a progressive (I was going to say 'hardcore') political site, are a new phenomenon or a new age. If you and the women posting here want to do something positive about gratuitous sexualization, you could start here and be forerunners in protecting new tech from going the way of old advertising.

[rmreddicks]

Perhaps oddly, I've never offered up to cars some gender. If I drove them hard (and I have) I just think of them as cars. I don't know if Fangio genderized. I just know that if the car is working I like the car.

[Rule Of Law]

Ah, Fangio--now you are going back a ways. Being and Argentine of Italian descent, how could he Not think of a car as a woman?

[y2vonne]

Hi Andrea,

Thanks for joining the conversation on this. To the idea that this ad is a hoax...if so, where is BMW's assertion? Several women have written to corporate headquarters asking for an accounting, but BMW is silent. Silence is not golden, here. And, it speaks volumes.

I suppose we little ladies who blog are of no consequence to BMW. All million and more of us... I suppose (as some folks have asserted, even female folks) that the ad is a Greek ad, meant for Greeks, not Americans, and they do things differently there, so we should just sit back and accept the promotion of child-porn for the sake of the dirty old men in Greece.

In reality, I think the ad is outrageous. I still believe BMW is responsible - IF it's not their ad, then take it down and denounce it. IF it is... accept that this was a big mistake and apologize.

Child-porn, soft-core porn showing children, is UNACCEPTABLE anywhere, anytime. (do not try to appease us by saying the model was over 18 - THAT is not what the ad was about; it was about attracting men to fantisize about sex with this young girl...and on the way, selling used cars). If you don't think that's true, go to the ad, and read the comment section.

[y2vonne]

Thanks for passing the word, Andrea. IF this campaign is not real, but a hoax, why is BMW so mum? Several ladies from Lip-sticking, my blog, have written to corporate and asked...but BMW is silent.

IF they are interested in the women's market, in our collective voices, perhaps someone from BMW can step up. A comment here, or on Muse's blog or on my blog, would go far to repairing the damage. Perhaps they don't get it - that with every negative comment and blog post about them, the word gets out to hundreds of thousands...maybe millions. Many of those readers are women...who now will never even consider a BMW.

I am one of them. BMW has been crossed off of my list of dream cars. Until I hear from corporate that the ad was a hoax...because, in the end, promoting soft-core porn to sell cars ANYWHERE (especially when you then put the ad on the WEB), is unacceptable. Period.

[AndreaLearned]

Barkingcat - thanks for the tip. I'll explore. It'd actually be great news if this was a hoax.

[barkingcat]

RE: the tip -- you are welcome. Thanks for your article and also the link/introdution to Copyranter, a blog I'll most likely be reading a bit more often.

[jvarga]

"This ad is practically soft-core porn, "

Uhhh different people have different standards I guess....

[eden4barack08]

Can somebody please explain the Barack Obama picture attached to this BMW article?

[barkingcat]

Andrea -- the ad may have been faked, according to a poster on Copyranter.