Six Words Create "The Best Test Drive Ever. Period." Film

SAUSALITO, Calif., Jan. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Little did Mathew Foster imagine when he came up with six words to describe the ultimate test drive that he would find himself behind the wheel of an all-new MINI John Cooper Works Coupe starring in the actual film inspired by his submission: stewardess, salt flats, sushi, paratroopers and falconer.  The spot can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm8C1TpPkUQ.

Leveraging its loyal consumer fan base, MINI USA's agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners took advantage of the brand's annual Motor-Tober event with the launch of a contest asking fans to submit in six words, their idea of "The Best Test Drive Ever. Period."   The contest, inspired by Larry Smith's Six-Word Memoirs Project, was seeded on Facebook and Twitter and resulted in over 14,000 submissions.  The judges selected Portland, Oregon's Mathew Foster's six words as the winner and then BSSP proceeded to create a film with Tool USA Director Erich Joiner,  that brought it to life.

"MINI is all about adventure, fun, and of course, performance. Together with Director Erich Joiner, we were inspired by Mathew's six words to tell an amazing story that takes not only Mathew on a journey, but the viewer as well," explained Steve Mapp, Co-Creative Director on the MINI account. "The MINI owner is such an incredible asset to us- they are true evangelists, and we try to incorporate them into our marketing initiatives as often as possible."

The result is a 2-minute film, and 90-second cinema spot making Mathew's test drive a reality. It begins on the downtown streets of LA where our hero Mathew is driving the new MINI Coupe as a stewardess rises in the passenger seat beside him announcing, "Thank you for choosing to fly MINI Air, our cruising altitude today will be 10,000 feet."  Mathew then proceeds to drive the new MINI up a 20-foot ramp launching the car over the freeway and landing it in the middle of the Salt Flats.  As the car speeds through the dusty terrain, a helicopter circles overhead as paratroopers drop to the ground.  Mathew, his MINI and the stewardess passenger weave through the paratroopers as if they were pylon cones and take off through the desert where they come upon a sushi restaurant as desert oasis, with mannequin chefs, wait staff and patrons.  After tearing through the outdoor establishment, Mathew is fed a piece of sushi by his stewardess and takes the car to its high speed of 149 miles per hour as a rock ballad begins playing in the background.  The test drive comes to an end with the materialization of rock band "Falconer" playing in the desert's setting sun.

"There's no doubt that MINI has delivered on its promise of the best test drive ever," said Tom Salkowsky, Manager, MINI USA Marketing.  "This film is a celebration of the spirit of the MINI brand – one that is fun, surprising and spirited."

Foster was chosen as winner on November 7th and the team began filming on November 15th.  It started in downtown LA where the 20-foot ramp was constructed four blocks from an overpass on a Sunday.  The team used "drift" stunt driver Diajiro Yoshihari in the sequence where the car glides through the air before landing in the desert.

"I had no idea I would be starring in a commercial," said Mathew Foster, a graphic designer from Portland, Oregon.  "I thought the words would be turned into some kind of illustration.  The first thing I really thought about was that I wanted to drive the car really fast and the best place to do that would be the Salt Flats.  I had just seen a Steve McQueen movie and that's where the initial idea came from.  Everything else just followed."

Foster was flown to LA with his girlfriend with no idea of what would transpire – that he would take a star turn behind the new MINI in a film based on his six word submission. For the team from BSSP, taking Foster's six words and turning them into action sequences involved many last minute changes and post production.  It also included a last minute replacement in the story and cast.

"Initially we opened up with a falcon dropping the key into Mathew's hands.  But we needed a better ending, so a Google search revealed a Swedish band named Falconer and that became our big crescendo ending at the very last minute," explained BSSP Creative Director Steve Mapp.

The film will began airing in cinemas nationwide reaching millions of movie goers during the week between Christmas and New Year's peak movie viewing season. It will also air on the MINI USA YouTube Channel, Facebook page and MINI USA's website.

MINI in the US
MINI is an independent brand of the BMW Group. In the United States, MINI USA operates as a business unit of BMW of North America, LLC which has been present in the United States since 1975.  Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003.  The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group's global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes.  The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 339 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 137 BMW motorcycle retailers, 110 MINI passenger car dealers, and 36 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers.  BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group's sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Information about the BMW Group and its products is available to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following address: www.press.bmwna.com.  Additional information, images and video may be found at www.miniusanews.com.

About BSSP
BSSP (www.bssp.com) is a full-service marketing communications agency based in Sausalito, CA, providing services in advertising, online marketing, web development, data analytics, integrated communications planning, brand identity, design and strategic brand consulting. In 2010, BSSP was named by Adweek as "Best Small Agency of the Decade. BSSP is one of the largest independent agencies on the West Coast and is known for providing highly creative, fully accountable marketing solutions to a broad array of marketers including MINI Cooper, Priceline, Columbia Sportswear, Sorel, AT&T Interactive, Isis Mobile Payments, Greyhound, Electronic Arts, and Mission Foods, RadioShack and Nokia.

CONTACT:
Toni Lee
203-246-7524
[email protected]

SOURCE BSSP