BMW vehicles commonly win awards. Short action films that feature BMWs have also won awards and now that "The Hire" series has a new installment—namely, "The Escape,"—it appears that winning awards continues to be common for BMW films as well.
At the Second Annual Brand Film Festival New York, which was produced by PRWeek US and Campaign US, awards were presented to the best films with branded content. The latest "The Hire" episode, titled "The Escape" continues the series' predilection for recognition with the Brand Film Festival's award for Best Film by an Agency going to BMW of North America and Geisel Productions with Anonymous Content, Universal McCann, and Rubenstein.
The original "The Hire" series featured Clive Owen portraying "the driver" as he showcased a number of BMW models in different action sequences. BMW's advertising gamble paid off with huge Internet viewership—before YouTube was even invented. Episodes won the Cyber Lion Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the "Best Excuse for Broadband" award at WIRED Magazine's Rave Awards in 2001, and Best Action Short at the 2002 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. "The Hire" series was inducted into the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) permanent collection in 2003.
During the Brand Film Festival New York, members of the team responsible for "The Escape" discussed making a sequel more than fifteen years after the series appeared to end.
"It’s about keeping it authentic," said Bruce Bildsten, creative director for the original "The Hire" films as well as "The Escape." He credited BMW for not being afraid to let the cars take a beating.
"They were never afraid to let us shoot the car up, make it dirty," Bildsten said.
Trudy Hardy, VP of marketing at BMW of North America, noted that "The Hire" is a series that concentrates on the story with the car taking a secondary role. If it feels like an ad, Hardy noted, "that’s where you’re going to fail."
As with most advertising, the question arises whether it is worth the expense. Hardy answered by explaining, "Everyone now looks back on this as the greatest investment the company ever made. It has exponentially paid off, not only in our brand equity and our brand value, but also sales. I think we created fans for life."
Reactions from BMW enthusiasts to "The Escape" ranged from "worthy successor to the original series" to "a long 5 Series commercial." If you haven't watched it yet, here it is so you can decide for yourself.—Scott Blazey
[Video and photos courtesy of BMW AG.]
