from Ad Age: BMW of North America, which scored a major publicity coup with its groundbreaking online film series The Hire, has turned the story line’s Driver character into a branded entertainment comic book series.
The idea was that if Hollywood has been able to harness the appeal of comic books to lure moviegoers into theaters, why not use graphic novels to bring buyers into BMW showrooms?
BMW’s ad agency, Publicis Groupe’s Fallon, Minneapolis, one of the key architects of the online films, handled the comic book project as well.
Last year, the automaker signed a deal with Dark Horse Comics to publish six comic books based on the character, played in The Hire shorts by Clive Owen (Closer, The Bourne Identity) as a mysterious driver who is thrown into comedic or dangerous situations thanks to his passengers.
Each installation of the comic book series features a single model vehicle that
