• BMW unveils its Super Bowl ad, featuring Christopher Walken, Usher and the i5 EV.
With the Super Bowl less than a week away, we're starting to see some of the ads that will air during the game.
It’s no secret, those ads offer incredible visibility, and they are also very, very expensive for those wanting that visibility. It’s estimated the cost of a 30-second ad at this year’s Super Bowl is costing $7 million USD.
BMW is in the game, so to speak. Its one-minute ad will air during the first quarter of the game, and the ostensible star attraction in it is the new i5 electric sedan.
The “Talkin’ Like Walken” ad, as it’s called, also features actor Christopher Walken and singer Usher. It shows us the actor's daily life behind the wheel of his BMW i5. As he travels, he encounters people who speak to him in some of the same tones his characters have used throughout his film career.
You'll need to have seen Christopher Walken's films to fully get all the references, but it's original and amusing. The man has a distinctive voice, and the way he delivers certain lines on screen has gone down in history.
In the ad, after listening in frustration to several impersonations of himself, Christopher Walken crosses paths with Usher... who will be in the Super Bowl half-time show. Here’s the full ad:
At the end, we hear a narrator declare that there's only one Christopher Walken and only one Ultimate Driving Machine – which is of course BMW's famous slogan.
Said Walken, “I really enjoyed working with BMW, they are a wonderful company and electric cars are important. I look forward to sharing the work we did together.” Given the fee the actor must have received, it's hard to imagine him saying anything else. Still, it's not hard to imagine him having a good time on set.
Usher was no less effusive: “It's an honor of a lifetime to perform at the Super Bowl and so great to work with BMW. Making the commercial was a cool experience, and I hope you all enjoy it.”
For BMW, it's a return to the Super Bowl after an absence in 2023. In 2022, recall, its ad featured Arnold Schwarzenegger.