One night a few weeks ago, I, along with a group of 10 others, was about to judge an AICP awards category, when we were informed that the 50 or so spots we were to review would take more than 75 minutes of screening time! A quick glance down the list showed why. The entire collection of five bmwfilms.com movies—each about 10 minutes long—was in contention, and competing against spots as short as 15 seconds. As one of the BMW films was a story about a massacre of Central American peasants, it was difficult to rate them against, say, a McDonald’s ad.
We judges were instructed to give the BMW films fair judgment, and the organizers of the event assured us that the pieces had screened in theaters and were broadcast on television. Yet the question around the room was, "Are these commercials?" "Is storing them on the Internet for download really a ‘broadcast?’ " The mini-movies were clearly all about selling BMWs, in that they gave a great excuse for breaking every rule of the road. (There were lots of car chases and crashes.) I remember seeing the trailers for these films that ran in other media—especially in movie theaters—that took full advantage of rule-breaking content in a traditional advertising setting.
On the Internet, the films are supplemented by director comments (listen to famed director Ang Lee give an overwhelming endorsement of the car) and interactive ads for each of the cars, as well as data and e-mail lists. Together, they make bmwfilms.com a powerful direct marketing and imaging concept.
BMW’s claim to these films being judged as a commercial ignited controversy. Some felt their inclusion was unfair. But is this not the thin edge of the wedge of a potential onslaught of original media ideas?
We, as an industry, are experts in creating sequences of images that, better than any other medium, reflect and articulate the real world. Any attempt to apply that talent to emerging media should, I contend, be more than just encouraged. It should be lauded as a potential engine to provide the industry with real prospects for growth. What better way is there to voice this encouragement and tell the advertising world that our unique capabilities can be adapted to different media, than by accepting innovative efforts like bmwfilms.com into the various awards competitions? Let us not, however, ghetto-ize them into some "special award" category. We must stand firmly behind the notion that the art we practice is adaptable from 10-second spots to any length and form an advertiser can obtain media placement for.
In the end, we must recognize that, ultimately, we are in competition for media dollars. The money we earn is a direct (small) percentage of the total money spent on purchasing media. Every time another outlet opens for moving film, it draws spending away from other media—magazines, radio, etc.—and adds it to "our" media dollars. Thus, our industry expands.
If an advertiser, media company or ad agency comes up with a new way to promote its wares through moving imagery, let’s embrace it—not just by taking the money, but with genuine acknowledgement and recognition that creativity can extend beyond content into how you get your commercial out there.
