BMW 1er - Froggy Galore!
[ Germany 2005 ]
"Prinzip
Freunde" ("the principle of joy") is
not only BMW's
newest online-campaign for their latest vehicle, the BMW 1er, it's also a
(very welcome) froggy-overload in German online-, print- and tv-ads. The official
site is packed with advertainment/infotainment content created by BMW to connect
with its customers. It was launched about one year ago to promote the BMW
1er.
One of the main characteristics of the site which attracts visitors' attention,
is the fact it gives away lots of prizes. Right now, among other goodies,
it is possible to win tickets to the upcoming F1 Grand Prix in Hockenheim.
What does that all have to do with the frog I came to look for, you might
ask...
Well, here's the sweetest deal of it: online ads starring Kermit
the Frog are currently being used on a huge variety of sites
to promote the competition and drive traffic to the site, while double-page
print ads are showing up in all kinds of news- and lifestyle magazines. The
sah-wah-wah-weetest of it all though, is the new tv-spot (#02) which is constantly
bringing the frog on screen all over the day - especially during prime-time.
Woohoooo!
After the heavy use of Statler
& Waldorf on the German media landscape for about two years
now (see the credit union Sparkasse's
site for screensavers, videos and online-games starring the two grumpy
old men), this is the next big Muppet thing that everybody is talking about.
Literally!
The
People,
they
do
love
themselves
some
froggy!!!
Due to the lack of webspace, this is only a temporary site (but I guess that's online-land for you anyway), so click away and get the stuff while it is hot! I tried to gather as much as I could find about the campaign, to share the joy of the frog. For comments, additions to this list, plain and simple signs of gratitude, appreciation, worshippyness and a healthy dose of whatsoever you can contact me at jk [ at ] bio-planet.com or visit Tough Pigs' Muppet Fan Forum to show just how wet you can get your pants about frogs in the desert! There's friendly Muppet fans there who would actually appreciate it, so hop & stop by!
'Nuff said. Now gather 'round the good stuff!
[ Spot #01 ] The BMW 1er's first tv-spot featured lots of random clips showing the people from your neighborhood blossoming in total glee during everyday life. And yes, Kermit is one of them alright! Featured is an older clip of a costumed Mr. the Frog, wiggling around in front of the Muppet Show's red theater curtain. The featured song is "Principle of Joy" by Thom. The clip mostly ran in mid to late 2004.
"BMW 1er
Spot - Prinzip Freude" - Windows Media Video file (wmv-file)
[ 2.75 MB ]
Translation of the
"BMW 1er Spot - Prinzip Freude" from German to English
[
Spot #02 ] May
2005 - When I first saw this commercial, I didn't expect Muppets at all. The
music (“Limbo
Rock” by The Champs) was catchy and it even seemed somewhat
familiar (it is track
6 from the 1993 "Muppet Beach Party" album, sung by "Fozzie
Bear and The Muppets"), but up until then it was still just
a CAR-spot...
My heart bounced into sheer happy-mode when the window rolled down. So when
you watch it for the first time, try to imagine the total awe that strikes
a Muppet fan when the surprising (!) driver is being revealed! Ready?
Set... Go!
"BMW 1er Spot -
Kermit" - Moving Pictures Expert Group file (mpg-file)
[ 8.87 MB ]
"BMW
1er Spot - Kermit" - Quicktime Movie file (mov-file)
[ 2.43 MB ]
"BMW
1er Spot - Kermit" - Windows Media Video file (wmv-file)
[ 2.38 MB ]
"BMW
1er Spot - Kermit" - Audio-Video Interleaved file (avi-file)
[ 1.58 MB ]
Translation of the
"BMW 1er Spot - Kermit" from German to English
[
Making-Of ] And
yes, there's even a Making-Of right from the actual location in Calvinia,
South Africa, that aired on about eight German tv-channels simultaneously
in May 2005. Some very neat scenes with Kermit's old pal Steve Whitmire included.
"The area is covered by a desert, but the day the crew arrived it started
raining heavily. When an expensive film crew arrives in a desert where it
never rains… It starts raining! After one day of waiting, the rain stopped
and the desert dried in a couple of hours." Enjoy!
Making-Of - BMW 1er Spot
- Kermit (link to youtube clip) [ 04:12 Min
]
Article about the
launch of the campaign [ from HORIZONT magazine - May 06th 2004 ]
Double-page
print ad [ "Isn't it joy, that makes us unique?" ]
Online
teaser-ad [ "Discover the principle of Joy. More..." ]
Online
ad #01 [ "Tickets for 3 days on the Hockenheimring..." ]
Online
ad #02 [ "Do you know the Principle of Joy yet? ..." ]
Online
ad #03 [ "Do you know the Principle of Joy yet? ..." ]
Online
ad #04 [ "Win hot, new iPod photo! High-end Sound. Brilliant colors.
Trendy design..." ]
Online
flash-ad #01 [ small version - for screenshots of bigger version, see
next links! ]
Online
flash-ad screenshots - part 01 [ "Hey, pal! Do you know the Principle
of Joy yet? ..." ]
Online
flash-ad screenshots - part 02 [ "...Whaaaat? You don't know the
Principle of Joy yet? ..." ]
Online
flash-ad #02 [ "Win hot, new iPod photo! High-end sound. Brilliant
colors..." ]
Kermit tv-spot screenshot #01
Kermit
tv-spot screenshot #02
Kermit
= a honker!!! [ animated - 124 KB ]
The special BMW-logo [ "froggyfied"
just for the Making-Of ]
John
Andreas Andersen & Kermit [ the cinematographer
& the star ]
Okay,
and since this is what everything should be about, here's the BMW
1er
BMW's official "Prinzip
Freude" [ with short Kermit splash-screen
]
News on the launch of the campaign [ in English
]
John Andreas Andersen - the cinematographer's blog
Stevan
Treshow - the director's site
Jung
von Matt/Alster, Hamburg - concept [ both spots available over here
in flash ]
Big
Fish - the production company's site [ spot #02 available here in flashy
flash ]
www.eirikso.com
- Media. Technology. Food. Travel. What?
www.cartoonland.de
[ vote for the spot! 5 stars, baby! ]
www.werbeblogger.de
www.adverblog.com
Sparkasse [ Statler & Waldorf heckle for
Germany's biggest credit union ]
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froggy-leaps since June 30th 2005.