BMW has officially released its new BMW i3 commercial that aired during the first quarter of Super Bowl 49 on Sunday. The ad is titled “Newfangled Idea” and stars former Today show hosts Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel. The ad opens with tape of Couric and Gumbel in 1994 discussing this new “Internet” thing and from there, well, you may as well watch the commercial and find out.
“In 1994, people had not yet grasped what the Internet was, which is similar to how electric mobility is viewed today,” said Trudy Hardy, Vice President of Marketing, BMW of North America. “Electric mobility is at a tipping point. We are on the verge of something great and we hope that with this spot, we can educate audiences about the BMW i3 and e-mobility in a fun and engaging way.”
The BMW i3 spot marks the first time both Couric and Bryant have appeared in national brand advertisement.
“When BMW offered me the chance to turn back the clock to 1994 and make fun of Bryant—and myself—I jumped at the opportunity,” said Katie Couric. “The tape doesn’t lie, we weren’t exactly visionaries back then, but thankfully in 2015 we are much more adept at recognizing game-changing, environmentally friendly innovations like the BMW i3.”
“The BMW i3 Super Bowl spot is my very first commercial, and the opportunity to reunite with Katie was a no-brainer,” said Bryant Gumbel. “We are not actors, and we got to be ourselves, which made it fun and easy.”
The BMW i3 is the first of the BMW i vehicles built in factories using sustainable and renewable energy. The car is made mostly from carbon fiber. The pure electric i3’s MSRP is $43,350, which includes destination and handling, while the range-extender i3 starts at $47,200, also including destination and handling.
You can wait until Super Bowl Sunday, or you can watch it right here, right now. —Scott Blazey
[Photos and video courtesy of BMW of North America.]
