A drive across the winding roads of the South African coasts proves that the new 6 Series continues to be more GT than sports car.
With his recovery still in the critical phase after his accident, it is looking ever more likely that Robert Kubica will be out for the season, and possibly for the rest of his career.
With the Big Game behind us, we analyze what really matters: the ads.
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Explorer faces recall for seat recline mechanism
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BMW Super Bowl Ad – Click above to watch the videos
was one of the few companies to keep its Super Bowl advertising plans to itself until kick off time, but the Roundel came to the game packing two 30-second spots. The company said it wanted to get two messages across to Americans: that its diesels are cleaner and more powerful than ever and that the German manufacturer is continuing to invest in America even as the economy struggles to recover. In order to make that happen, BMW enlisted the vocal talents of actor Chris Pine (of Star Trek fame) for the two spots. Pine is now the official voice of BMW advertising here in the States.
The first ad is clearly aimed at distinguishing the 335d from the American perception of diesel – sluggish old wagons, rough-idling sedans and soot-spewing trucks and busses. The second ad focuses on the company’s efforts in Spartanburg, South Carolina, including producing every on the planet. to check out both spots as well as the full press release.
[Source: BMW]
: BMW Super Bowl commercials champion diesel and… American roots?
Mercedes-Benz reveals new models in Super Bowl ad – click above to
is throwing its hat into the Super Bowl advertising fray with a pretty new 60-second spot designed to celebrate the company’s 125th anniversary by heralding in a wave of five new models. The spot marks the very first time that the company has ever advertised during the NFL’s ultimate game. In the spot, Mercedes-Benz features four new vehicles, including a very quick peek at the upcoming and the Roadster.
The spot features many of the company’s past and current models escaping their owners in a bid to pay homage to the newborn Benz fleet. There are plenty of fantastic vintage Silver Arrows in the spot, along with a soundtrack by Janis Joplin and at least one celebrity cameo (we won’t spoil the surprise on that one). to check out the video for yourself.
Chevrolet Silverado HD Super Bowl ad – Click above to watch video
has gone ahead and saved us all the agony of waiting until the Super Bowl this Sunday to see all five of the company’s new ads. The automaker has officially yanked the veil of secrecy off of the spots well before kickoff, which means you can check them all out for yourself after the jump. The spots feature the , , , and in some very clever marketing. While we’re big fans of the Camaro “Miss Evelyn” spot that we saw earlier this week, the new clip for the Silverado HD is no less grin-inducing.
This year looks to be a good one for fans of clever advertising. With automakers from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen to GM and Audi jumping into the fun, the commercial breaks are almost bound to be more fun than the actual game itself. Click to see the slew of Chevrolet ads before anyone else and to check out the press release.
The Ferd F-Teenthousand – Click above to watch the video
Every time a new pickup truck debuts, we get bombarded by marketing campaigns telling us how it’s more powerful, more luxurious, more capable and more economical than any othertruck on the market. Every automaker plays this game. Now, though, every single truck on the planet has officially been lowered on the totem pole. Meet the Ferd F-Teenthousand.
Capable of towing 18 other trucks and making a new home for a beached whale, the Ferd F-Teenthousand comes with chest hair upholstery and a beard in the glove box. In fact, it’s so big and brutal that the United States government has apparently classified it as a tank. And not just one tank, eight tanks.
Pretty cool, right? Wrong. Really cool.
to see this parody advertisement, created by humorist Mark Little, all about the supreme majesty that is the Ferd F-Teenthousand. Really cool.
Europeans like wagons. Americans, on the other hand, don’t. Our country’s collective notion of station wagons is stuck in Clark W. Griswold-land. Too bad. Most Americans have no idea what they’re missing.
We were in Suttgart, Germany, this past weekend as Mercedes-Benz took the wraps of its all-new 2012 SLK Roadster. We’ll get a closer look at the machine next month at the Geneva Motor Show.
This could be the best Super Bowl commercial of 2011.
Also of interest:
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Fact: Playing videogames can help speed up reaction times and make a person more sensitive to the environment around them. A study by researchers at the University of Rochester found that people who play video games are generally better at multi-tasking, reading small print and even driving.
On the flip side of this study is one put together by Continental Tires, which shows that gamers also tend to take more risks behind the wheel. On average, 22 percent of gaming drivers reported being stopped by the police, compared to 13 percent on non-gamers. 31 percent of gamers have run a red light in the last 12 months while just 14 percent of non-gamers make the same claim.
Even more glaring is that 45 percent of the gaming drivers polled said they suffer from road rage while only 22 percent of the non-video game playing respondents stated the same. Honestly, judging from the typical morning commute in some major cities (and from the image above, which was captured while playing Gran Turismo 5), we bet both of those figures are just a wee bit on the low side.
A handful of Gran Turismo 5 players are currently battling it out for a shot at becoming a real-world race car driver in Polyphony’s GT Academy, but according to GT Planet, there may be a bit of an issue. Currently, the top three drivers are using a less-than-sanctioned route to get around the track by dipping off of the asphalt and cutting two corners entirely to come up with a significantly quicker lap time than everyone else.
To put it simply, the three players who are on the podium right now are cheating.
Now, cheating is a staple of both video gamedom and the hallowed halls of racing, so it should come as no surprise that someone has figured out a way to get around a track quicker than everyone else by bending obliterating the rules. Still, it kind of ruffles our feathers to know that the top award could go to the shadiest man (or woman) standing.
So far, there’s no word on whether or not Polyphony will step in to quell the competitor’s cheating ways. to have a look at the videos for yourself.
has made some incredible commercials over the years. Remember How about Commercial of the Decade ” Then there is two of our favorites; “” and “.” These spots share two common traits: all are voiced by the silky-smooth Garrison Keillor and each is innovative in its own way.
The ad geniuses at Honda are hoping to strike gold once again with a now spot titled “This Unpredictable Life,” which features Keillor and a bunch of animated characters. The Honda Jazz (the here in the U.S.) spot itself is well-written and attractively animated, but the innovation comes in the form of an iPhone app that actually communicates with the commercial.
To download the app, simply hit the App Store and type Honda Jazz in the search. The object of the free game is to hold up the iPhone with the app running while the commercial is being played. Any time one of the characters from the game (shown, right) are shown in the commercial, you have to shake your iPhone. As you “catch” the characters, the app gains interactivity whenever you tap on them.
Once you download the app you can to play the commercial. Make sure the volume is up on your computer so your phone can sense the sounds in order to tell when you’re supposed to shake. We definitely won’t guarantee the game is a blast to play, but we’re impressed with the creativity in any case.
You don’t mess with the Bumblebee – Click above to watch the video
General Motors is back and back big in this year’s Super Bowl. The automaker will have eight 30-second ads in and around the game, including the pre-game show.
“We’re looking to win the day,” said Chevy marketing director Chris Perry.
GM marketing chief , who came to GM in April 2010 from , with a short six-week stint at in between, is big on big media venues. He likes the Super Bowl, Academy Awards, Olympics, Presidential debates and the like.
Don’t look for big yucks, though, which is a mainstay of Super Bowl ad themes. All of the ads will be for , with ads by San Francisco ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which launched the “” campaign last fall.
Ewanick told the agency to focus on telling stories that convey information and product benefits about Chevy’s newest and most important vehicles – the , and pickup. There are two ads running in pre-game, five within the game and one during the post game show.
“We’re looking to win the day,” said Chevy marketing director Chris Perry. Among auto marketers, Chevy will be competing against , , Mercedes-Benz, , BMW, Kia and . , and , which have bought time in the past, are sitting this year out.
Hyundai Elantra Super Bowl ad – Click above to watch the video
Hyundai will run three TV ads in this weekend’s Super Bowl, all supporting the 2011 and .
The ads for the Elantra continue games in which Hyundai is trying to show that the Elantra surpasses expectations most consumers have about compact cars. Both ads play to a theme of hypnosis and the idea that people need to “snap out of it” and get deprogrammed about their ideas of what a compact car can and should be. A third ad, which has already aired, shows a sheep driving an Elantra. The 40-mpg highway rating of the Elantra plays prominently, and may, indeed, be the most memorable bits of these ads… though the driving sheep is a pretty good image too.
The has a stronger idea behind it, putting across the message that we should never settle for the first thing to come along an indirect jab at and perhaps .
Images of bikes with enormous front wheels circa the 19th century, a stoner carrying a stereo turntable around his neck, and a guy using a cellphone the size of a raccoon provides some decent visual jokes. This spot will probably get remembered better than the hypnosis Elantra ads.
Hyundai’s in-house ad agency, Innocean, created the ads. to see the videos and read Hyundai’s official press release.
Chevrolet Super Bowl ad – Click above to watch the video
is planning an all-out advertising assault on this year’s Super Bowl with a total of five ads spread throughout the game. The spots will focus on the , , and, of course, the . Each of the 30-second spots have a completely different feel, and at least a few of them will show up after Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers are done beating themselves to oblivion during the post-game coverage. GM is staying fairly tight-lipped about the plots surrounding the majority of the ads, but the company has been kind enough to let slip the Camaro spot ahead of time.
The clip features Bumblebee of Transformers fame going toe to toe with a car lot mascot. Spoiler alert: don’t put your money on the chipmunk.
The ad features one impressive donut with plenty of tire smoke and some fairly seamless CG for good measure. to take a look at the video for yourself and read the full press blast.
According to Inside Line, Skoda is jumping into the minicar game with a little help from parent company . The Czech automaker is set to introduce a new model based on the same platform as the VW Up, with production gearing up toward the fall of 2011.
The vehicle doesn’t have a name as of yet, but according to the report, the pint-sized machine is slated to be built at Volkswagen’s Bratislava manufacturing facility. When it rolls off the production line, it will come packing an efficient 65-horsepower 1.0-liter gasoline engine, though a 75-horsepower 1.2-liter diesel mill will also be available at the time of launch.
Later down the line, there’s word that Skoda will bring an all-electric version to the party as well. The baby Skoda is being designed to lock horns with the Toyota iQ and Peugeot 107, and Inside Line is reporting that it will likely carry a price tag of around $9,300 when it debuts.
Shaun White will get a taste of tire smoke – Click above for high-res image gallery, videos after the jump
At the 15th ESPN Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado yesterday, BF Goodrich announced a multi-year partnership with snowboarding Jedi Shaun White: the 130-year-old tire company would teach the Olympic gold medalist how to drive. Not just get behind a wheel and use a turn signal, but, you know, really drive. Before a day spent with a few drivers from Team BFG, White had never driven a stickshift before – his has E-Gear and his 1966 is an automatic – and readily admits “I’m a terrible driver.” Autoblog was there to ask BFG and White what’s it all about, and more importantly, who’s going to replace Samuel Hubinette’s gearbox?
Everything is going 3D. The latest movies, TV shows and videogames are touting the third dimension as the new “it” way to view things. Even . Now, a new automotive website is trying to get in on the action by offering 3D videos and images.
offers a variety of ways to explore its content, and you can do so with or without 3D glasses. But if you had trouble seeing the image within those Magic Eye photos (It’s a schooner!), then you’ll want to find a pair of 3D glasses, otherwise head on over to and experience cars from a new perspective. They just posted a you’ll want to check out.
The 2011 North American International Auto Show wasn’t exactly chock-full of game-changing new product, but that didn’t keep the media and public from making it a much bigger success than the 2010 show. Crain’s Detroit Business reports that the 2011 Detroit Auto Show held 5,000 members of the international media during press days and 21,000 guests (5,000 more than in 2010) during the two-day industry preview. The annual charity preview saw another 10,500 guests, raising $2.6 million for charity.
That’s good news, but the top headlines for the struggling Detroit area are reserved for the $325 to $350 million in total estimated economic impact – about $25 million more than in 2010. A grand total of 735,370 members of the general public purchased tickets to NAIAS; up 20,000 from the 2010 show. Now that’s certainly a step in the right direction.
Hundreds of millions of people watch the Super Bowl each year, but the day after, most water cooler conversations are focused on the commercials than the actual game. That’s sure to continue in a few weeks, and hopes it is part of the conversation.
Reuters reports that GM will lead a pack of up to nine automakers buying ad space for the annual football extravaganza. The fact that so many automakers are willing to shell out up to $3 million for a 30-second spot could be considered a sign that the industry is primed for more growth. It surely illustrates that GM is in far better shape than it was in 2009 or 2010, when the Detroit-based automaker avoided the big game all together.
Test Drive Unlimited 2 features character customization – Click above to watch video
Can you think of something missing from the current crop of automotive video games? If you said cosmetic surgery then you must work for Atari. The upcoming is going to let you customize more than you car. Your on-screen avatar can appear exactly how you want it to thanks to numerous facial and clothing options. to see what we’re talking about.
Thousands of football fans will soon converge on Arlington, Texas for Super Bowl XLV. Those visitors will fill area hotel rooms and jam eateries and pubs. That’s good news for local businesses, but thanks to impossible traffic it’s a bum deal for anyone who travels through town. And since the Super Bowl also brings massively increased security, many streets will be closed so police and private security details have fewer avenues to inspect. Thank goodness for GPS, right? Not so much.
Super Bowl organizers have asked that game attendees skip the GPS in favor of the directions printed on their parking passes. That’s an awfully analog process for our digital world, but owners of OnStar-equipped vehicles can still receive turn-by-turn directions. Subscribers will be have “special access” to routes and road closures relayed by specially trained OnStar advisers during the event. You won’t need to have the turn-by-turn subscription package to receive this service, either; GM is providing it free of charge just for the big game. Hit the jump to peruse the official OnStar press release.
