• by Karl Greenberg , August 9, 2011

BMW Group Financial Services is touting its extended-vehicle protection program with a three-part series of viral videos. The central message is that the extended vehicle program is great to have, but forget it if the nitrous oxide super-booster flux capacitor that triples your horsepower is made by someone other than BMW.

The campaign, called "Natural," is on BMW U.S.A.'s YouTube Channel, and the brand's "Financial Services" tab on Facebook.

"With social media such a significant part of our consumers' lifestyle, we want to remain relevant to our customers' every need," said Shaun Bugbee, VP sales and marketing for BMW Group Financial Services.

The videos, via New York-based WPP unit G2 USA (with CGI by N.Y.-based QuietMan), talk about the virtues of original BMW replacement parts (and the fact that non-BMW parts void extended vehicle coverage) through humorous visuals leading to the tagline that "some things just aren't natural."

The idea is elaborated through a zoological menagerie of mix-and-match body parts that make for strange Dr. Doolittle-type creatures such as a horse with zebra legs; penguins with a toucan's beak; and a lion with a water buffalo horn. One of the ads, "Poucan," seems at first like a BBC nature documentary with a closeup shot of a crowd of penguins on an Antarctic ice shelf, with crisp British voiceover saying things like "In Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth, King Penguins gather together. Penguins rely on vocal calls alone for identification. These animals use a...Wha...Come ON! What the F%&@ is THAT!" he yells as a penguin with a toucan's beak suddenly wanders into the group. "Well," he says, "I suppose in life, some things just aren't natural." The "Poucan" stumbles headfirst into the water.

The point is relevant because the Extended Vehicle Protection Plan at BMW (and it's the same story at most automakers) guarantees only 100% original BMW replacement parts. It covers repairs performed at an authorized BMW repair facility; 24-hour BMW roadside assistance; and protection of vehicle resale value.

The automaker has also been talking up its performance parts aftermarket division by bringing BMW racer Scott Pruett (who won last year's GrandAm) to dealer conventions like the one in Las Vegas to give dealers hot laps in stock 3-Series cars and then 3-Series cars with BMW performance parts -- suspension upgrades, engine enhancements, spoilers and the like --- in them. Using those parts keeps the warranty intact. The company also touts the performance parts aftermarket business on www.BMWPerformance.com.