Created for BMW of North America by Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P), this short film stars the charming Milo Ventimiglia and tricks viewers into believing that the car he’s in is fully autonomous before revealing that the “self-driving” reference refers to the all-new BMW M4’s manual transmission and Ventimiglia has been in complete control of the vehicle during the entire drive.

“With all of the interest in self-driving vehicles these days, what better way to crack a smile on April Fools’ than with a little manual-transmission joke?,” said Uwe Dreher, VP of marketing, BMW of North America. “With up to 503 horsepower, and as one of the only vehicles in its category to offer a six-speed manual gearbox, the BMW M4 is the epitome of the ultimate driving machine.”

“We had a lot of fun taking viewers in one direction with the unbelievable driving and performance of the BMW M4 before pulling the rug out from under them to reveal that it was manual transmission the entire time,” said Matt Edwards, creative director at GS&P.

For the first half of the film, the BMW M4 pulls off mind-blowing drifts, edge-of-your-seat handling and thrilling reverse 180s. All of this, paired with Ventimiglia’s serene reactions, pulls the audience in before landing the joke perfectly with a wink and a smile.

“It’s the perfect ode to the iconic BMW tone of old with some simple wordplay and great comedic timing on Milo’s part,” said Kevin Leung, art director at GS&P.

Titled “The Ultimate Self-Driving Machine,” the short film is the perfect combination of hair-raising driving with tongue-in-cheek April Fools’ Day humor that really begs the question, Is the ultimate self-driving machine the one you truly drive yourself? If so, the new BMW M4 has you completely covered.

Jonny Mass of production house Radke directed.

The digital campaign launches on April 1 with a presence on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and in digital placements, including on CBS Sports and Yahoo! Sports.

Credits

Client BMW Agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners Margaret Johnson, chief creative officer; Rich Silverstein, co-chairman; Matt Edwards, Wes Phelan, creative directors; Carlos Rangel, associate creative director; Kevin Leung, Duncan Spear, art directors; Rachel Nagpal, copywriter; Bonnie Wan, partner, head of brand strategy; Christine Chen, partner, head of communications strategy; Stephanie Phillips, group brand strategy director; Kevin Destefan, strategy director; Don Kim, director of communications strategy; Matthew Hudgins, sr. communications strategist; Josh German, communications strategist; Jane Warren, research & analytics director; Leila Gage, Margaret Brett-Kearns, co-directors of production; Matt Flaker, executive producer; Kateri McLucas, producer. Production Radke, Toronto Jonny Mass, director; Pete Konzcal, DP; Dan Ford, exec producer; Geoff McLean, producer. U.S. Production Vision Film Editorial Cabin, Santa Monica, Calif. Edward Khoma, editor; Orion  Fernando, assistant editor; Adam Becht, exec producer; Lynne Mannino, producer. Audio/Sound Design Sound Source Inc., Woodland Hills, Calif. Charles Deenen, supervising sound designer, mixer; James Evans, Nick Martin, sound designers; Josh Moore, Travis Prater, sound editors; Andrew Bock, producer. Music Squeak E. Clean Studios Rob Barbato, West  Coast creative director; Justin Hori, Midwest creative director; Max Taylor, sr. producer. VFX The Mill Chris Knight, executive creative director; Alex Candlish, remote shoot supervisor/VFX supervisor/lead/finish artist; Dylan Streiff, Franz Kol, Kai Chun Tsai, Pradeep Kumar Rawat, Nikhil K M, Arun Kumar Sah, Rahul Bharadwaj, Pushpendra Singh, Jhosidth T, Prajeesh E, 2D artists; Daniel Stern, 3D artist; Patrick Dirks, 2D artist & finish artist; Itai Muller, matte painting; Jacob Bergman, animation; Kevin Diaz, Valerie Chernysh, art department; Elizabeth Hammer, tracking. Color The Mill Paul Yacono, colorist; Fawn Fletcher, exec producer, color; Denise Brown, sr. color producer; Gemma Parr, Logan Highlen, color artists.

MySHOOT Profiles