Coming soon to a theater near you? BMW gets inside audience eyelids (AD)

By Nancy Tartaglione

Using pioneering new technology, BMW is testing a cinema spot in Germany that delivers its logo to the inside of viewers' eyelids. AdAge reports that after a bright photo flash during the ad, the audience is asked to close its eyes. What folks see hovering inside their eyelids is an after-image created by the flash of the letters "BMW." The company claims the flash is completely harmless.

Per AdAge, the flash projection spot was filmed in English, and BMW plans to show it in other markets after the German trial, but has not yet decided where.

The ad is for the motorbike division, Motorrad and stars BMW motorcycle racing driver Ruben Xaus. Xaus in the ad tells viewers, "Just close your eyes. Look deep into yourself. Maybe it's your dream, too. It's in you. Close your eyes and you will see it." He looks directly into the camera and commands: "Close them. Now."

A BMW spokeswoman told AdAge: "We literally got inside people's heads, involving them instead of boring them and generating a more intensive connection to our target group. Our brand should be innovative, emotional and dynamic."

AdAge has a video primer on the ad and the ad itself, here.