Screwy.

Do we need to say more?

I agree with most all you said, especially the length of the BMW “NO” ad, did they forget their ad class dictums, SSSSSSSSSSnore, but then I digress………………

It seems to me that most small open architecture cars, Miata or whatever they call it now, Sky/Solstice, S2000 Roadster, have a general look that goes with their size and configuration. To say that they are stealing from the Z4 is a tad off mark, for me. The Miata style was very innovative when it came out back in 1989-90 way before the Z 3-4. The style has slowly morphed into what it is now and I don’t really see where they stole anything.

There is little innovative style in cars now and most of what is suppossedly inovative just is bad….Tribeca comes to mind, Aztek, Xb and a few others.

As little as I like the new BMW’s, I do like the 3, at least they have a creative look. One could say that their new styling was a ripoff of the 2003 Cadillac CTS. It was a full year before the 2004 5 series and way before the 3 series and had that Flame architecture BMW says is theirs. So did BMW steal? I think not.

That was one of the things I liked so much about the new MINI, ya can’t say it looks like any other car.

Car design has gone through square, then Blob, then who knows what for a few years and now it’s squarish blob/flame?

As far as the “NO” ad, I like the sentiment but who is really going to read that much copy? Not many. Geez had I, when I worked in an agency, gone to my DD with that ad, Holly Cwap there would have been hell to pay!

But what do I know you guys are the experts…….. :¬)

Well, at least I can’t see a link to the great website the put up there as well: http://www.bmwtransact.com/whywesayno/

Enjoy!

Kudos to BMW.

I have to disagree with you here. Firstly, a single “uncompromising” car cannot invalidate the assertion of an entire car company that they’re going to keep on dancing to their own tune. They aren’t saying that they’ve refused to vanilla-ize one of their cars, but rather all of them. So saying that one car “blows this whole campaign out of the water” is faulty logic.

Secondly, if you’re going to make that assertion, you picked the wrong Mazda. If any Mazda says “we’ll do what we bloody well please, thank you very much,” it’s not the Miata, it’s the RX-7/RX-8. If the Miata were the “rebel” of the group, it’d still have flip-up headlights. Few things say unique like having the only production sports car with a rotary engine (and then squeezing 230+ hp out of its measly 1.3 liters), suicide doors, and 4 bucket seats.

And BTW, if I’m not mistaken, the 3-spoke wheel had to do with a change in the US airbag standards.

But I will agree that BMW’s attitude does not quite trickle down to MINI with the same level of purity, I think. Though BMW has been an exceptional steward of the new MINI, I think that some of the design choices in the R56 are steps in the direction of “lowest common-denominator.” Not in any huge way, but in small areas that take away from some of the subtle character of the car. But I’ve already made that rant.

My favorite bit of classic BMW advertising that I think is equally relevant today is an add from the ’90s that essentially read:

“To the other automotive designers out there, eyes on your own page”

Toyota has stolen blatantly from the looks of the BMW 7 series for its new Camry iteration in what I can only guess is some sort of attempt at performance/luxury credibility for the historically blandest thing on four wheels. GM’s Solstice and Sky roadsters are brazen “me too”s of the Z3/Z4. And though slightly more subtle, Volvo has been taking design cues from the propeller for the better part of a decade now (remember back when Vovlo’s were ugly?).

To toss in some professional criticism on this new ad campaign; though I agree with the organic and otherwise truthful nature of their message (in that they are pretty much telling the truth and not just blowing a bunch of smoke up our arses), the message needs to be more succinct. It takes them two paragraphs to get to the point and by then I’ve lost interest. BMW has been sponsoring All Things Considered on NPR for the last few weeks and their sponsorship script is a noticeably bulky message. It has more the ring of business-to-business or business-to-investor, macro-benefit-centric messaging than a true and palpable communication to consumers or potential customers. I believe them – that their independence helps them build better, more interesting, better looking, more driver-oriented ultimate driving machines. But it’s a letter when it should have been a postcard (a little Whipple for you hard-core addy’s out there). Boil it down further to that essential message.

Now THAT would’ve been interesting.