Is This The First BMW Ad?

The original layout for the first BMW print ad by legendary advertising agency Ammirati & Puris. Television advertising was expensive, so foreign car manufacturers relied on less expensive print advertising

Does anyone remember a time before BMW? Unlikely. The German import has been on American streets since before most people were born. But in 1973, two advertising guys named Martin Purvis and Ralph Ammirati ditched Carl Ally Advertising and the Fiat account to rent a hotel room in midtown Manhattan. They gave themselves four weeks to get a paying advertising client. After three weeks, they had no one. On week four, they got UPS. The very next year, BMW followed.

At the time, BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke) was an upstart German automobile manufacturer trying to follow Volkswagen’s enviable lead in the U.S. market. The new account required a new art director, so they hired Clem McCarthy, a San Francisco native. Clem and Marty Puris had worked together in Detroit. Clem grew up in San Francisco and went to Mill Valley High School. On weekends, he drove along the curving roads of nearby Mt. Tamalpais. So, when it came time to shoot BMW’s first television commercial, Clem knew exactly where to go.

Like perfume ads, car commercials like to show a lot skin. The camera lens lovingly drapes itself along the shapely automobile silhouette. Slow motion “beauty shots” typically demonstrate steering and suspension systems as they absorb road curves and the passionate thrill of driving. Not BMW.