A Shift Away From Traditional Automotive Advertising
In the early 2000s, BMW moved away from conventional car advertising, which typically emphasized polished visuals of vehicles on scenic roads. Instead, the company sought a new approach that would appeal to a more digitally connected and entertainment-driven audience.
Working with its agency Fallon Worldwide, BMW developed a radically different concept: a series of short films designed specifically for online distribution.1, 2 The goal was to merge storytelling with product demonstration in a way that felt more like cinema than advertising.
A Cinematic Universe Centered on “The Driver”
Launched in 2001, “The Hire” consisted of eight short films featuring Clive Owen as a mysterious professional driver known simply as “The Driver.”3, 4 Each episode placed him in a different high-stakes scenario where he was hired to transport people or complete missions while driving BMW vehicles.
The films were directed by major Hollywood filmmakers, including Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie, and Alejandro González Iñárritu, giving the campaign a level of cinematic credibility rarely seen in advertising at the time.1, 3
Storytelling First, Product Second
Rather than focusing directly on selling cars, the campaign embedded BMW vehicles into narrative-driven action sequences. The cars were presented as essential tools within the story, highlighting performance, handling, and control under extreme conditions.3
This indirect approach made the advertising feel less like promotion and more like entertainment content, allowing audiences to engage voluntarily rather than passively consume traditional commercials.
Early Success in Digital Branded Content
“The Hire” became one of the earliest large-scale examples of branded online film distribution. BMW hosted the films on its website and promoted them with trailer-style marketing, encouraging users to seek out the content rather than interrupting them with traditional ads.2
The campaign achieved massive reach, attracting tens of millions of viewers and significantly exceeding initial expectations for online engagement.1, 2, 3
Impact on Brand and Industry
The campaign contributed to a measurable increase in BMW sales during the period, with reports indicating double-digit growth in key markets following its release.1, 3
More importantly, it reshaped industry thinking about advertising. “The Hire” demonstrated that brands could function as content producers and that audiences were willing to engage deeply with advertising when it was entertaining enough.
The campaign later became widely recognized as a foundational moment in modern branded content and is still cited as an influential example of marketing innovation.1, 4, 5
A Lasting Shift in Advertising Logic
Ultimately, BMW’s “The Hire” established a new model where storytelling, filmmaking, and product marketing merged into a single format. It showed that advertising did not need to interrupt entertainment, but could become entertainment itself.
Source: abmwfan
Source: abmwfan
Source: abmwfan
Written with AI assistance, edited by a human. Find out more about our Use of AI.
1. BMW Group PressClub USA, Jackie Jouret, "BMW NA 50th Anniversary | 50 Stories for 50 Years Chapter 27: 'The Hire: BMW's Revolutionary Brand Campaign'", 7 July 2025, for Jim McDowell, then BMW of North America's Vice-President of Marketing and Product Strategy, replacing the company's previous agency with Fallon, for the films being released online rather than in cinemas, with Fallon developing its own video player to deliver them, for the films directed by Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie and Alejandro González Iñárritu among others, for the response exceeding anything BMW and Fallon had prepared for, in McDowell's words "jillions more people saw this stuff than we ever dreamed", and for the series being "seen by some 100 million viewers", for BMW of North America's 2001 sales of 213,127 cars, "an increase of nine percent over the previous year's figure", and for the series being enshrined in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and copied by other automakers, including Nissan and Mercedes-Benz. The chapter gives a single digit sales increase for the US market, not double digit growth. https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa/article/detail/T0451233EN_US https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa/article/attachment/T0451233EN_US/633980
2. ClickZ, Christopher Saunders, "BMW to Reprise Web Film Effort", 7 June 2002, off whitelist and used for corroboration only, for the first series having been launched by BMW "with its agency Fallon Worldwide" as five short films on BMWfilms.com, for BMW promoting the films with 30-second television spots and ads in print and in movie theaters, for web users downloading the first run of films more than 13 million times, and for Jim McDowell saying that "the project far exceeded any of our expectations". The page does not describe the promotion as trailer-style. https://clickz.com/bmw-to-reprise-web-film-effort/84838/
3. Wikipedia, "The Hire", consulted on 8 October 2026, a reference source under the Brandvelle whitelist, for the first film, John Frankenheimer's Ambush, premiering on the BMW Films website on 26 April 2001, for the series of eight short films starring Clive Owen as "the Driver" while highlighting the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles, for its directors including Ang Lee, Guy Ritchie and Alejandro González Iñárritu, for the films being viewed over 11 million times in four months and over 100 million times in four years, and for BMW's 2001 sales increasing 12% from the previous year, a figure the article does not tie to a market. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hire
4. Campaign, Steve Barrett, "Brand film was greatest investment BMW ever made", 27 January 2020, for BMW having taken up brand filmmaking in 2001 with a series of eight films called The Hire, starring Clive Owen as The Driver and "stimulating 100 million views", and for the series still being cited in 2020 as the example of a big brand synonymous with brand filmmaking. https://campaignlive.com/article/brand-film-greatest-investment-bmw-ever-made/1672088
5. Campaign, "GALLERY 01: BMW - The Hire", undated on the page, for the One Show Best of Show award going to Fallon for its BMW campaign The Hire, and for the campaign being described there as "a brilliant example of the potential of integrated branding" that "has received worldwide recognition" and as "a far cry from the typical car commercial". https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/gallery-01-bmw-hire/175100
