BMW's Epic Poem Launching the X7 Isn't Quite What It Appears

Goodby Silverstein & Partners, MJZ director Dante Ariola and effects house MPC have teamed up on a truly larger-than-life commercial launching BMW’s seven-seat X7, based around an epic poem that wraps up in surprising fashion. 

The Super Bowl-esque spot, narrated by Chris Pine, tells the legend of Ol’ McLanden—whose name is emblazoned on the license plate. It shows the X7 zipping through all sorts of landscapes—cities, mountains, dockyards—and encountering all sorts of mythical obstacles along the way. 

The characters who pop up in the stylish production include a Poseidon-like city worker, a gang of bikers, and a giant construction worker wielding a jackhammer. 

Toward the end, we learn just who Ol’ McLanden is. It might not be who you’d expect. 

The end line is, “Make every day legendary,” referring to the power of the X7—in aventurous hands. 

The :75 is running online. A :60 will air on the Oscars on Feb. 24. The spot will also run in movie theaters. 

CREDITS

Ad Agency: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Client: BMW of North America
Title of Creative Work: “Legend”
Live Date: 2.18.19

BMW
Vice President of Marketing BMW of North America: Trudy Hardy
Head of Brand Strategy and Communication BMW of North America: Wolfgang Gross
National Marketing Manager: Lisa Judge
National Marketing Campaign & Production Manager: Neil Moreno

Creative
Co-Chairman: Jeff Goodby
Co-Chairman: Rich Silverstein
Chief Creative Officer: Margaret Johnson
Creative Director: Roger Baran
Art Director: Stefan Copiz
Copywriter: Andrew Bancroft

Production 
Director of Production: Tod Puckett
Executive Producer: Benton Roman

Account Services
Group Account Director: Theo Abel 
Account Director: Alissa Sheely 
Account Manager: Olivia Mullen 
Assistant Account Manager: Rebecca Bell 
Project Manager: Kaitlyn Landers

Brand and Communication Strategy
Group Communication Strategy Director: Dong Kim
Sr. Brand Strategist: Mackenzie Beer

Business Affairs
Broadcast Traffic Director: Ruchele Eisenman
Senior Business Affairs Manager:  Chrissy Shearer

Production Company 
Company name: MJZ
President: David Zander
Senior Executive Producer: Eriks Krumins
Director: Dante Ariola
Producer: Natalie Hill
Director of Photography: Kasper Tuxen
Production Designer: Nigel Phelps
AD: John Lowe

Editorial Company
Company name: Work Editorial
Editor: Rich Orrick
Assistant Editor: Theo Mercado
Senior Producer: Jamie Lynn Perritt / Brandee Probasco
Executive Producer: Marlo Baird
Telecine
Company name: MPC LA
Colorist: Mark Gethin
Executive Producer, Color: Meghan Lang
Color Producer: Rebecca Boorsma

VFX/Finishing
Company name: MPC LA
Creative Director: Michael Gregory
Shoot Supervisors: Michael gregory, Dan Seddon
CG Supervisors: Ryan McDougal, Tim Kafka, Josh Hatton, Nishanth Shrinivasa, Boyo Frederix
Lead Compositor: Toya Drechsler
Compositors: Rodrigo Jimenez, Guillaume Weiss, Alexander Kulikov, Dylan Brown, Concept Art/DMP: Jason Heinze, Abhilash A, Bala Krishnan R, Geetesh Tari
Mohan Rao, Srinivas Achary, Silvia Bartoli, Sachin Sureshrao Dhapudkar
PreVis: Alex Moon
CG Animation: Srikar Balakrishnan, D. Venkatesan, Carl Edlund, Sashdy Arvelo
CG FX: Bhargavan SP, Prashanth Paramasivam, Andreu Lucio, Arnau Gilabert, Jinguang Huang, Andy Sheng, Nema Safvati
CG Lighting: Martino Madeddu, Sumit Kumar, Asher Stusek
Executive Producer: Karen Anderson
Senior VFX Producer: Christian Downes
VFX Coordinator: Justin Rogers-CdeBaca
Producer: Mireille Antoine
Line producer: Chris Preston-Barnes

Music
Music company: Woodwork Music
Composer: Philip Kay
Producers: Andy Oskwarek & Sam Phillips

Sound Design
Sound Design: Trinitite Inc.
Sound Designer: Brian Emrich 

Mix
Company name: Lime
Mixer: Rohan Young
Assistant Mixer: Jeremy Nichols
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan