LOS ANGELES — BMW promoted its fully electric iX Sports Activity Vehicle during this year’s Super Bowl with a :60 spot featuring stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Salma Hayek. Conceived by Goodby Silverstein & Partners and directed by Bryan Buckley, the commercial aired during the third commercial break of the first quarter.
Schwarzenegger stars as the Greek god Zeus, while Hayek plays his wife, the goddess Hera, as they retire from Mt. Olympus to a quiet life in Palm Springs, CA. The monotony of retirement, however, quickly weighs on Zeus, who becomes frustrated by his struggles with earthly electronics and his nagging mortal neighbors’ constant requests to charge their electric devices. Hera, on the other hand, has fully acclimated to retirement and is thriving. In an effort to bring some excitement back into Zeus’s life, she gifts him with an all-electric BMW iX, which quickly helps reignite her husband’s mojo. The spot closes with the couple rocking down the road in their new iX to Eddy Grant’s "Electric Avenue", with Zeus using his electric power to change the traffic lights to green.
Squeak E. Clean Studios (www.squeakeclean.com) provided multiple tracks that are used throughout the track, including within the Olympus and Palm Springs sequences. Michaelangelo Rodriguez composed the score for the Olympus segment. The Palm Springs sequence features the "Theme from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Justin Hori was creative director for the global music collective, and David Fisher provided music consultation.
The spot’s visual effects were made possible thanks to the team at The Mill. Hillary Thomas served as EP and Derek Tekus was senior VFX producer, with John Leonti acting as creative director. Benoit Mannequin and Alexander Candlish were 2D leads, while Jessica Groom and Robert Chapman acted as 3D leads. Jacob Bergman served as animation lead on the spot, with Charlotte Preuss and Chloe Gauthier acting as VFX coordinators.
“I’ve done 60-some-odd Super Bowl spots,” says director Bryan Buckley. “I’ve never had more star power than these two. When I first saw Schwarzenegger’s name on the script, I was in. And Salma - there is no one greater as an actress. It’s a movie in 60 seconds, and it’s on the biggest platform.”