An Overworked Dad Becomes a Tireless Hero in This Touching Chinese Ad for BMW

A beautiful new short film from BMW China and Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai is celebrating a special kind of superhero: hardworking dads. The 15-minute video tells the story of a businessman and his family. His young son, frustrated with his father’s long hours and late nights at the office, grasps for understanding. But the boy, gifted with a vivid imagination, doesn’t take long to cook up mythic scenarios to explain his father’s absence. A benevolent coworker turns into an evil queen, demanding all of his father’s time. A client presentation turns into a kung-fu brawl. And—because it’s a car commercial, after all—the dad’s scramble to make it to the son’s school play on time becomes an epic car chase, including a dramatic off-road leg where he has to dodge enemies including a pair of attack helicopters shooting missiles at him from the sky. [kickout id="1"] Overall, it’s a bit long. But it’s surprisingly powerful nonetheless—well written and well produced. Eventually, the kid, who starts out a little surly about the whole scenario, turns out to be full of admiration, delivering a touchingly compassionate speech about his dad. In the end, the ad perfectly captures the complicated ways in which parents can loom larger than life to their children, and could ultimately rival a Thai shampoo commercial for its ability to tug at the viewer’s heartstrings. Tied to the launch of the automaker’s new X3 SUV, it also does a fine job of selling the car—weaving in obligatory shots of the car’s features. More importantly, it succeeds in lionizing its target demographic—turning their mundane struggles into sacred ones worthy of celebration—because even though that client meeting isn’t quite the same as fighting off a gang of thugs, when your kid’s well-being is on the line, it sure might feel like it. CREDITS: Executive Creative Directors: Ian Toombs and Vivian Yong Creative Directors : Minhao Lu and Okan Usta Art Directors : Justin Phang Chinese Copywriters : Liu Wei, Lance Lian and Alex Zhang Head of Production : Sanne Drogtrop Production Manager : Bernice Wong Digital Producer :Xiong Xiong Senior Planner:David Lin Planner : Elaine Huang and Peter Shao Account Director : Jason Wang Account Manager : Mandy Lin Account Executive : Laura Yu Head of Project Manager : Nicole Bee Project Manager : Olivia Yuan Business Affairs : Jessica Deng Head of Design : Fish Ho Production House: The Loft Films Executive Producer: Lem Geok Choo and Magne Lynger Producer : Peichuan Tsai and Ye He Production Manager : Weiche Chang and Yushu Liu Director : Martin Werner Assistant Director: Robert Jonathan Diment and Qing Gui Story Creative: Vivian Yong, Ian Toombs, Minhao Lu and Okan Usta Script Writer: Minhao Lu, Okan Usta and Yirou He Director of Photography: Daniel Voldheim Focus Puller: Gang Yan and Bencong Kang Editor: Olivier Bugge Coutté, Pang Wei Fong and Lim Fan Fan Musician and Composer: Karl Håkan and Bertil Eriksson Art Director: Poliang Wu Special Wardrobe Stylist: Shouhsiang Liu Wardrobe Stylist: Hsiuwei Lin Hair and Make-up Stylist: Mingyu Tsai Casting Director : Ying Sheng Casting Assistant : Ling Lin Gaffer : Guobin Huang Behind the Scene : Bo Hai Property Master : Guowu Guan Sound Recording: Bin Chen Location Manager: Jijun Feng Digital Colorist:Nikola Stefanovic (MPC Shanghai) Visual Effect: Volt Shanghai Mark Zhao starring Jun Ma Jia Song starring Jing Wang Yunhao Kou starring Dong Dong Yuanbaizihui starring Dong Dong Mom Special Starring: The All-New BMW X3 Kindergarten Teacher: Wei Liu Boss: Xiujun Du Special Forces: Haofei Li, Cheng Cheng, Youbu A Zhi, Leihan Zhang and Junhao Lai Kidnappers: Weimin Zhang and Yaze Li Hostage: Ningxue Yin Other Kids: Yitong Sun, Rubing Qian, Chenzhou Liu, Xihan Chen and Haohan Bai Kung Fu Masters: Yuechao Sun, Tong Li, Lu Li, Deming Feng, Ronghua Cheng, Cheng Peng, Chaoqun Wang, Wei Wang, Gongke Li, Jiabao Li, Wenshuo Zhou, Qitai Li and Zhanpeng Gong Clients: Yuezhong Lin, Ninghai Zhao and Haiming Wu Designer: Fan He Marketing Director: Jessica Sinn PR Manager: Rachel Xiao Visual Support: Fortune Star Studio