Magazines and ads are forever tied at the hip. After all, without the latter, the former can't exist. A magazine's front cover is one of the few spots left that's devoid of commercial encroachment -- until now. BMW Canada and Vice magazine have managed to give the 1-series top billing in the April edition. By day, it's just another issue of Vice, but douse the lights and you see some very clever marketing in action. That's because the mag has a special glow-in-the-dark treatment that turns the cover into a full-page ad for the BMW 1-series. As advertising stunts go, it's brilliant. Here's a front-page ad that's both unobtrusive (on newsstands, you just see the standard cover) and highly effective, since people are likely to talk about it and show it to friends. It couldn't have come cheap, either, as the covers had to be shuttled between two facilities during the manufacturing process to get the glowy look. No matter. Good ads get noticed and generate buzz. Mission accomplished. Thanks for the tip, Karen![Source: Media In Canada via Auto North]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
garlinski @ Mar 23rd 2008 9:10PM
that's kinda cool... in a strange way... bravo to the ad company for pulling it off...
JayP @ Mar 23rd 2008 9:24PM
The 1 is on almost every page of Autoweek where the page number is given a description. Got my attention.
Noidor @ Mar 23rd 2008 9:35PM
I loathe and love marketing at the same time. I loathe it when it ruins products (Audi A5, For NA gillette mach 3 grill), but love it when it supports them and attracts attention by means of using innovate and intelligent methods.
rgt881@gmail.com
Kristovar @ Mar 23rd 2008 9:35PM
Yeah, I'm an advertising major at University of Texas and love this tactic... any word on the agency that came up with this?
takamaru @ Mar 23rd 2008 9:50PM
So am I but at UTPA. Amazing work.
Kristovar @ Mar 23rd 2008 10:08PM
Groovy- I'm UT Austin. When's your grad year? I'm looking at either DEC '09 or Spring '10.
Dan @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:49PM
Cundari
Sean @ Mar 24th 2008 2:07AM
Woohoo! Longhorns!
Ben @ Mar 24th 2008 8:33AM
Go Horns! \m/
--- @ Mar 23rd 2008 10:30PM
Isn't that Sasha Gray on the cover? What kind of magazine is this???
nate_687 @ Mar 24th 2008 12:11AM
Yep that is Sasha Grey, i'm also wondering what kind of magazine that is.. Lol kinda bad that we both know exactly who that is..
Darrell @ Mar 24th 2008 12:48AM
its always good to know people outside of Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, and other disappointments. +1 for both of you
Longhorn @ Mar 24th 2008 2:14AM
ahh... Sasha... yes...
ehem hem so cool ad eh?
Evotec @ Mar 24th 2008 2:56AM
how can you not know sasha grey?
ik @ Mar 23rd 2008 10:51PM
great idea
but...... vice?
3seriesisking @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:05PM
Freakin' Awesome!
Hugh @ Mar 24th 2008 12:04AM
This is a sweet idea, but this not the place for it... people who know anything about Vice know that this will drive its liberal hipster fanbase crazy.
This is a bad decision on the magazine's part. I'm sure BMW of Canada is very pleased to be on the cover of a magazine targeted to hip young people, but the magazine is alienating its readers for doing this.
Vice used to be my favorite magazine, too...
Student Driver @ Mar 24th 2008 12:36AM
I wonder how many people are buying that magazine just for the ad. Very cool.
Luis Camino @ Mar 24th 2008 1:04AM
yeah people, that's sasha gray right there on the front page of autoblog.com lol
Stoobiedoo @ Mar 24th 2008 1:10AM
I know it is juvenile, but....
Check out the headlights on that chick.