Barbara Lippert's Critique

Last year’s BMW Films shook up the industry because it was the first campaign to think outside at least two boxes. It eschewed TV to hit luxury-car buyers where they surfed—not with repetitive, annoying pop-up ads, but with five smart, engaging, exquisitely produced min iature movies, made by master directors using edgy actors. It also took BMW out of the traditional product-placement business, particularly the overtly commercial Bond films, and turned the ultimate driving machine into the star of its own revved-up art-house vehicles.