MyMediaMusings

Car blog Jalopnik has gotten the “exclusive” rights to a BMW-produced mockumentary about the townfolks of German village Oberpfaffelbachen and their attempt to build a ramp that will launch a car from there to San Francisco.

BMW was one of the early-adopters when it comes to making pretty great entertainment that also serves as effective advertising.  Their “Driver” series is still an industry benchmark.

Although they’ve gone a very different direction with The Ramp, they continue to raise the bar in terms of creating a quality distraction.  The tone, performances and technical elements are all top-notch.  The fact that it is an ad for BMW feels completely secondary.

In addition to the mockumentary itself there is an Oberpfaffelbachen website, a town councilman with a Friendster page, and a Miss Ramp contest.

BMW never tries to truly fool us into believing this is real, they are just allowing us to suspend our disbelief and join in the fun.