Suzuki Looks at BMW Films, Rubs Off "BMW" Logos, Replaces with Own

You'd think a vehicle mark notoriously known for lacking originality would make at least a slight effort to step their game up if they've got major marketing dollars to throw behind an idea. Any mediocre idea can be prettied-up with cash. Even cutting another project up, tossing it in the air and making it slightly unrecognizable would be fair game, and it would only take five or six more minutes. But maybe that asks too much of Suzuki.

Make the Logo Bigger unpacks a delectable rant on Suzuki Films, a Suzuki marketing effort aimed at inspiring audiences to move from television to the 'net to find out what happens next in a sultry French Connection-style multi-platform drama called "The Briefcase," which suspiciously echoes BMW Films' "The Hire."

"Maybe it's fitting they copied [BMW] since Suzuki is an imitation of a real car," Bill snarls.

BMW Films makes no secret of the fact they believe they revolutionized TV-to-'net marketing with their miniseries, which boasts a line-up of critically-acclaimed directors and a number of awards. Suzuki Films' first offering is credited to Ken Arlidge, who's shooting for Fast and the Furious status with his fondness for car chases, clueless tight-shirted men and confrontational but pouty femme fatales.

See, this type of thing would be awesome if your company already had fans and aficionados on-board to hype the concept. But Suzuki ain't no Ultimate Driving Machine. If we owned a Suzuki, we'd probably hide it. We'd even let people eat in it. And we definitely wouldn't use it to transport a magic briefcase.

Written by Angela Natividad    Comments (5)     File: Bad, Campaigns, Online, Television     Jan- 4-07