Yes, it’s another huge helping of ‘car porn’ – which may not be everybody’s bag – but this particular outing has a very slick, very stylish, very clever golden thread of performance art, running elegantly through each glistening scene.
The Execution
In what seems an overgrown section of PVC pipe, the scene opens to the blindingly bright lights of what one would assume a very powerful automobile. Roaring to life, and in a tire-cloud haze, the beast bursts from said pipe, revealing itself as – in fact – the new BMW M5 - radiant in a splendid hue of cobalt blue.
In a showcase of the vehicle’s mind-numbing power, the anonymous driver takes her in bee-line across a desert setting of the purest white sands. And here’s where it all kicks off, as in slow revelation, we, the viewer, start to see that incoming are three objects, toward which this magnificent car currently hurtles, in exhilarating reckless abandon.
From a giant glass apple, to water balloons the size of elephants, to a very sturdy looking car-sized target, the obstacles await, and one-by-one they succumb, to a dose of the car’s power, as it speeds up, not showing a hint of hesitation, plummeting into each.
‘So, it’s just a car driving into things,’ you may say. Well, yes. But there’s more to it because between each obstacle, the M5’s animal growl is soundtrack to white-knuckle camera angles and amazing static shots. At each obstacle, high-speed cameras kick in and the result of the collision unfurls before us in slow motion majesty: a glistening spray of glass, or a shower of the purest water, or an explosion of clay - all to the tender high-notes of a Baroque-infused, Bach-inspired symphony of the subtlest beauty.
The Numbers
It may be either the delightful spectacle of a pricey car colliding with comically oversized objects, or the slickly-polished production and performance art factor to the ad – hard to say – but the offering has garnered significant online traction.
Referencing the Viral Video Chart entry, BMW M5 – Bullet – High Performance Art, since discovery on the 22 June 2012, the video boasts a hefty 173,293 Facebook shares, 173 blog post mentions, and a social media sharing spike of around 35,000 in a few days. What’s most impressive, though, is the burgeoning total of around 2.7 million YouTube views alone.
Billed as performance art, it’s a beautiful piece of advertising magic, highlighting the vehicle’s aesthetic, and coupling that with a visual charm that was always, it seems, destined to stimulate the online ‘viral’ channels.
