BMW has released a commercial for its electric i3 starring former Today Show hosts Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel that aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The news anchors flash back to a clip from 1994 where they are trying to understand the internet and email addresses. “What is ‘internet’ anyway,” Gumbel said, “Do you write to it like mail?”
The “Newfangled Idea” ad then fast-forwards to 2015. Couric and Gumbel express similar confusion as they drive the i3 — an all-electric car that joined BMW’s i8 coupe last year to fill out the automaker’s growing family of plug-in electric cars.
“I think with electric mobility and our i-brand — the i3 and i8 — we still know that it still needs a great deal of awareness, and what bigger stage and what bigger spotlight than the Super Bowl?” Trudy Hardy, vice president of marketing for BMW North America, said.
The ad was created by Kirshenbaum, Bond, Senecal & Partners. The BMW i3 spot marks the first time both Couric and Gumbel have participated in a national advertisement.
“When BMW offered me the chance to turn back the clock to 1994 and make fun of Bryant—and myself – I jumped at the opportunity,” said Couric. “The tape doesn’t lie, we weren’t exactly visionaries back then, but thankfully in 2015 we are much more adept @ recognizing game-changing, environmentally friendly innovations like the BMW i3.”
“The BMW i3 Super Bowl spot is my very first commercial, and the opportunity to reunite with Katie was a no-brainer,” added Gumbel. “We are not actors, and we got to be ourselves, which made it fun and easy.”
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