BMW’s 2023 Holiday Ad: Endless Roads Ahead.

Treasure Driving While You Can; Someday It Will End

BMW has just debuted a new commercial suitable for the festive period, and it sure will get you teary-eyed. In this brief clip, festive cheer isn’t at the core of its message, but rather an appreciation for the incredible present of being able to travel by vehicle. Just like Chevy’s recent advertisement, this sympathetic footage takes avid drivers down memory lane in an emotive fashion.

An elderly gentleman and his doting son were waiting at the DMV-like institution in Europe when the old man was relinquishing his driver’s license. “It’s just a piece of plastic,” the son remarked, prompting an intense reaction from his father. It’s a sentiment that many of us can relate to – the significance of the plastic card is so much more than its physical form.

Flashbacks come up as we look at the scene in which the son got his driver’s license, in the same room. Afterwards, the two drive away in a BMW i4.

Father & Son. Freude forever.

Upon arriving at an exclusive tract of terrain, the child remembers the bliss they experience when their father praised them on accomplishing the driving exam with flying colours and all the promising potential that then extended before them in their motoring stakes, sentiments to which any vehicle aficionado can easily relate.

In an endearing demonstration, he volunteered to give up his seat for his elderly dad, once again conjuring up memories of the period long back when he was a nervous learner driver conquering the craft of driving a BMW 3 Series which is considered to be amongst the finest iterations of this line.

The father recalls the numerous highs, lows, and middle-ground moments from many years spent in cars, expertly depicting how much more vehicles are than merely assemblages of components. They provide gateways to unexplored spheres of potential and satisfaction, and as BMW aptly illustrates, that sensation of joy never vanishes.

Jeremy Clarkson’s famous words are as true now as they have ever been: “It’s what non-car people don’t understand. To them, a car is simply a ton and a half, two tons of wires, glass, metal, and rubber, and that’s all they can see. Those of us who are passionate about cars know – we have an unshakeable belief – that cars are more than just machines. […] You can form a bond with a car, and that’s something that non-car people just don’t comprehend…”

It is certainly a bittersweet thought to realise that, ultimately, all of us will become those elderly retirees nostalgically reflecting on all the automobile adventures they had through their lives. Therefore, make every ride count my friends. Your driver’s permit will eventually be nothing but a meaningless card. You may, one day, end up selling off your car and never buying another. Eventually, you will take one last ride in the driver’s chair.

Savour every shift of the gear stick, each twist of the steering wheel and the pressure that comes when tapping the accelerator. Create memories that you can look back on with a joyous smile; an experience that surpasses all others. Until the time arrives to close your motoring chapter, treasure every precious moment.