Joy is a girls name... not the tag for a great car. I have been the happy owner of the ultimate driving machine since '67. "Joy." What a stupid add!
Opinions vary. The BMW tagline in the rest of the English-speaking world is "Sheer Driving Pleasure"--pretty close to "joy." The German tagline is "Freude am Fahren"--literally, "joy on driving." While I haven't learned enough yet to translate the idiom, BMW helpfully has (see above). Basically, "it's a blast to drive," which we already know. Personally I all but jumped for--excuse me--joy when I learned of this campaign, a few months before the TV debut. BMW is undertaking a serious push to align their US marketing with the rest of the world and the Joy campaign is the latest step. Although in some ways "The Ultimate Driving Machine" is spot-on, those meanings aren't the first ones to leap to many peoples' minds. It tends to convey a slightly elitist or arrogant attitude that the brand--and a lot of us owners--could do without. Since you've owned BMWs since the 60s, by now you must have heard your share of people poking fun--lighthearted or otherwise--at the slogan. I know I have, in a mere 10 years. It gets a little tiresome to try to explain that "ultimate" is meant to convey not dominance but the sheer, ineffable, unmatched pleasure of driving one of these cars on a daily basis. That is why BMW are distancing themselves from the slogan--because much of the US latched on to the wrong inflection. I have the feeling we (the US) are saddled with this "Ultimate Driving Machine" drivel as a legacy of marketing to yuppies in the early 80's, and honestly can't wait for the day it dies. Freude am Fahren nails it. (By the way, I don't entirely disagree with you about the TV ad. I'm no fan of the shortened version that's being broadcast. Have you ever seen the original version online [different soundtrack, British narration]? It's superior in every way.) Edit: Found the German version (with written English translation): http://www.youtube.com/user/BMW#p/u/69/MME050V93Dw. I downloaded the English version when it first appeared but they seem to have replaced it with later edits...can't find the original anywhere. Edit #2: Finally! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji1rDlt4m60
You could say that ... Apparently, you weren't paying attention during the 'polo & country club' years. That was the first one to attempt to replace 'UDM' and thankfully, it died fast. IMO, UDM was the best ad idea they've ever had and I'll be disappointed if they kill it. I think "Joy" sucks out loud. Americans aren't as damned stupid as BMW AG (and apparently NA) thinks we are. I know what "Freude am Fahren" means just as I knew what "527e" or "318i" might have meant if BMW hadn't decided in the early '80s that we're too stupid to follow along with an accurate model designation.* It was then that I decided BMW marketing was worthless, so I could easily ignore the above-mentioned 'fuzzy focus' campaign that was directed at the hated Yupazoids. I'll manage to ignore this one, too, if not many people bring it up. * That practice has persisted to the present, making such numerical model designations pretty much ludicrous. They might as well use words, just like everybody else. Maybe place names like GM does. How about the BMW Dortmünd or the BMW Spa? I'd buy a BMW Eichstadt or a BMW Belize - if a spare set of wheels fit in the back ...
Ooh, you're right, I'd managed to blot that horror from my memory. I guess that's why "Joy" works for me, it gave me the impression they finally believe we "get it." (Gee, thanks. ) 'K, I'll try not to bug you with it any further. +1, though they're kind of hamstrung by having the same displacement for two different engines in the current 3er. Where do we ask for the quick and clean death of xDrive, sDrive, ... before I have to ask yDrive?
Thanks for posting that, clearly I misunderstood the information I had. One way or the other, it's good to have the facts.
At the end of the day all this is just marketing BS, including UDM. It is just that UDM has now been around for a very long time. What really matters is that our cars drive and perform better than anything else. So de-badge them and go for that country or track drive!!!!! I went for a long drive in the Alleghenies this weekend and I couldn't have had a bigger smile on my face. Rural mountain roads with not another car for miles and miles.
Image and Substance I think BMW is pretty much on track with the UDM. At least they're consistent with it and back it up with SUBSTANCE, not like all the scattered hype from a certain US maker that also took gv't money to slither out a bankruptcy proceeding. I appreciate the originality of BMW engineering and style, which is copied way too often by lesser makes. Not sure about the Joy dept., other than it looks pretty good on the side of the M3's that came in 2nd and 3rd (after starting LAST) at Sebring!!!
I sat in, started and drove my first BMW this last summer. And I thought "Wow, this really is the Ultimate Driving Machine!" UDM rings true, and if the non-Bimmers don't like it, they should buy a better car (that, coincidentally, would have a roundel on it). Conceited attitude. Sure. Is it fun to snicker at Hondas and Nissans and the like? Heck yeah. Now, if we want to discuss killing an ad campaign, it's that painful "BMW is second place" thing Audi's been putting on TV....
UDM vs Joy IMHO, the best car ad campaigns were the VW and MB campaigns from the late 90's and early 00's, they surely weren't for the driving school/autocross crowd, but they did present an attractive, inviting and usually humorous message. Today, Toyota is taking that approach. Every time I see/hear the UDM schtick, I just recall that BMW will sell me a car with an automatic transmission for the same price as a stick (i.e., they prefer to sell automatics). At that point, UDM message gets really fuzzy for me.
BMW advertising Every few years BMW goes with another agency, and those Hip & With It droids fall all over themselves trying to please the client. Remember the cars floating over the Venice canals? The little angels hovering over the wheels? (Excuse me; I have to throw up. I had managed to clear that campaign from my mind.) My favorite was a black-and-white montage: fast blurry car making roarty noises interspersed with black panels with big white letters: DO YOU [ROOOarrrrrrr] TAKE THIS [VRRZZZEEoooooooww] CORNER? [vrrroooOOOOM] I DO.
I remember that one but can't find it online. This, however, is my all-time favorite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fydYmmESffE I made it my mission to reproduce every note.
I hate to say this (put DOWN the torches, pitchforks please) BMW needs to poach some of Audi's stylists. Bangle's post-2001 designs didn't do anything for me, and neither is Van Hooyndonk's (sorry if I misspelled his name -- someone help me out here and I will edit it correctly). Although I will admit that the F10 5-series is FINALLY a step in the right direction. The new flame-surface-free Z4 is also finally no longer stabbing me in both eyes. Now if only BMW will fix the styling on the 1-series (yes, it's ugly) and headlight design on the 3-series (the 1-series called; it wants its headlights back -- or is the other way around). That and BMW please stop using four or five chassis codes for ONE model series PLEASE. One E-code used to represent ALL BMW's in that series. Remember those days? OK, rant over. Thank you for listening.
It seems things have changed. I was in Munich yesterday and this morning. I ran across a temporary BMW complex a block north of Karlsplatz, they were passing out wrist bracelet thingies that said "Freude ist BMW". Looks like "Joy" is going International. Also ogled the X1 diesel there: looks more like a station wagon than a big honking SUV. Here is a picture of it mixed in with other cars:
Hey Bri why don't you do me a favor and pick up a DBilas M20 itb/manifold for me while you're over there!
