The year was 2001. It was the second year of a new millennium that had gone ahead without much disruption despite all of the concerns about Y2K. It was the advent of modern infotainment systems and BMW was on the cusp of debuting their new iDrive system.
The technology first appeared on the BMW 7 Series, which was ridiculed for a whole host of reasons, with iDrive just another part of what critics thought was wrong with the car.
A new, four-minute video from BMW released to coincide with the beginning of CES celebrates (?) just how far the iDrive system has come in 20 years. Why the question mark? The video is the perfect example of the age old tale of the boy who likes the girl but to hide it he constantly picks on her and shows off in front of his friends, with a smattering of disrespecting your elders.
A story of generations. BMW is a part of CES 2021.
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The entire video takes place in a darkened garage with the 7 Series voiced by an aging male who uses words like “whippersnapper” to ridicule the forthcoming BMW iX, comparing it to a “Tomagachi” and accuses it of being a toy car because it’s not in production yet. The iX is voiced by a female who accuses the 7 Series she calls “grandpa” with “sniffing at the gas pumps too long”.
The iX accuses the 7 Series of being past its prime, saying that it’s impossible to talk to “their generation”. The two voices rattle through the various features of their iDrive systems and while the iX’s voice goes over that system’s, the 7 Series voice replies with a swear word that refers to feces from a male cow.
Then the iX voice explains what infotainment intelligence means to the 7 Series while touting that the iX “knows everything because I’m always online”.
After being thoroughly insulted, the 7 Series drives away and the iX seeks them out saying the popular refrain, “I didn’t mean it that way” before explaining that without the original iDrive the iX wouldn’t exist.
While amusing, the video clearly fits in with social media posts the company has featured recently where they make fun of older buyers, who are also known as the bread and butter of BMW’s audience. It’s an interesting sales tactic.
