Advertising war between Audi and BMW - the full story (14 photos + video)

Many are aware of the ongoing advertising war between BMW and Audi, but few remember how it all started) let's try to fix it

The advertising war was declared by BMW back in 2003. The first attack was made by Mercedes:
hungry cheetah BMW X5 hunts zebra Mercedes ML

Next came the following:

"Mercedes can be fun too"

Then came the turn of others
"Shark" attacks a jaguar:

The prim British, teetering on the brink of survival, decided to ignore the injection.

The new victim of an advertising attack is a long-time competitor, Audi:

It all started with a BMW print: the auto giant “nicely” congratulated Audi on winning the 2006 Car of the Year competition in South Africa, signing “Winner of the 2006 Car of the World competition.”

Audi could not leave such audacity unanswered:

Audi did not hide its grievances, coming out with a response poster: “Congratulations to BMW on winning the 2006 World Car competition. From a six-time winner of the Consecutive Le Mans 24 Hour (2000-2006)."

Perhaps everything would have been limited to this, but other manufacturers, Subaru, decided to intervene in this war:

The third one in this story turned out to be useful. Subaru said that BMW and Audi are great, winning beauty contests, but Subaru, meanwhile, became the best in International Engine 2006 (Best Engine).

But the most solid answer was given by the same British:

I think there is no need to translate and comment on the Bentley poster, which silently put an end to this funny dispute.

Since then, the war has subsided a little, until in 2007 Audi introduced a modern innovation to the Russian market - a Russified GPS navigator:

In response, the entire BMW advertising army, not without reason, declared: “While others were translating navigation, we made the best engine in the world.”

Audi responded by advertising their proprietary quattro all-wheel drive system:

"This is what happens when you don't have quattro"

BMW soon had the opportunity to respond: "This is what happens when you have quattro"

In 2009, advertisements became even more daring and politically incorrect - to the delight of fans.

The next round of confrontation was marked in the United States by the release of an Audi billboard with the defiant slogan “Your move, BMW!”:

Of course, BMW advertisers couldn't go unanswered. Turning to local advertising agency Juggernaut Advertising for help, BMW makes the same "Knight's Move" by placing its BMW M3 billboard with the slogan "Checkmate" directly opposite the Audi billboard on the opposite side of the street.

One could only guess what Audi could come up with for this, but no one doubted that the answer would follow. Although the Bavarian manufacturers have long since become personal, hardly anyone could have imagined that an opponent’s counterattack would be so “daring.” Moreover, it is addressed more to marketers than to consumers.

This time, Audi depicted their pride on the billboard – the R8, and next to it was the note ‘Time to check your luxury badge. It may have expired.’ (Time to check your ‘luxury’. Perhaps it’s no longer there)

Admittedly, the R8 is a bold and daring solution that the M3 will have a hard time fighting against.
However, we will wait for BMW's response.

It's all fun on the video front too.

First, BMW presented a creative video, not hesitating to openly demonstrate the competitor’s logo.
[media=https://www.youtube.com/v/6qNJxyOfsIA]

You can't jump into an Audi like you can into a BMW!

Audi was quick to respond – the new video is more straightforward.
[media=https://www.youtube.com/v/KjCWr8y1GzM]

[media=https://www.youtube.com/v/QeXjlyQQ8WM]

BMW vs Porsche
[media=https://www.youtube.com/v/aSa-lIrUhtI]

Another provocative Audi video
[media=https://www.youtube.com/v/XT-fJ6kQ1Pw]

BMW vs Audi
[media=https://www.youtube.com/v/I6KYaF95w3g]

Infiniti vs BMW Christmas advert
[media=https://www.youtube.com/v/J2qPbSal3fI]

It may seem to the average consumer that the warring brands are ready to tear each other's throats, but in reality this confrontation is devoid of any malice. On the contrary, there is lightness, enthusiasm and subtle humor. As a result, the victorious struggle for attentione buyer gives rise to creatives that are much stronger in terms of impact than conventional advertising. There are no losers here - everyone will grab their share of fame and attention. “A friendly game of advertising chess,” I think you could call it that.