BMW pumps diesel power into AMC "Mad Men" Season 3 (part one)

 
The eagerly-awaited  premiere of the AMC hit series Mad Men Season Three is this Sunday, which BMW is sponsoring with limited interruptions.  The few commercials which do appear all will focus on the advantages of BMW modern, clean diesel power – the kind of technology BMW puts into its best-selling sedans and wagons.

 

I find this more than a bit ironic. That’s because in the late Fifties and early Sixties, when Mad Men is set, diesel was a dirty word.

 

Back then, diesel cars belched ugly black smoke that smelled as awful as it looked – some diesel trucks and busses still do.  Plus, those old diesel cars also were cranky and not reliable, often refusing to start in cold temperatures. And they were loud, too.  But that was then.  Fast forward a half-century.

 

Modern technology has freed men like Don Draper (actor Jon Hamm, far left) from wearing  fedoras and women like copywriter Peggy Olson (actress Elisabeth Moss, second from right) from bullet-nose pointy bras. More importantly, BMW wants us all to know we have all been freed from the bad old diesels.

 

Clean diesels are clean enough that the Volkswagen Jetta TDI diesel was named Green Car of the Year at the most recent Los Angeles Auto Show.  BMW calls its diesels Blue Performance, offering four-cylinder efficiency with V8 power.

 

The 2010 BMW X5 35d diesel SUV is rated 26 mpg highway.  The 2010 BMW 335d sport sedan is rated at an impressive 36 mph highway.  Both are packed with 265 horses.  And both come with a $4,500 rebate – not from Cash for Clunkers, but from BMW, if you buy before August 31.  Considering that the diesel sedan starts at $43,900 and the diesel SUV at $47,500, that's a 10 percent rebate.  That's a good deal in my book.

 

According to the advertising trade publication AdWeek, BMW wants to change your mind about diesel.  BMW wants to convince us that diesels are green cars – both eco-friendly and wallet friendly.  Some of the ads -- like the one pictured here -- combine a Sixties Fedora-wearing 'suit' with a 21st century BMW.  BMW's "Mad Men" ad campaign is an uphill battle.  Simply, diesels have been – and continue to be – more popular in Europe, especially in Rudolph Diesel’s home country of Germany, than in the US.

 

Still, I thank all the 'suits' at Beemer for sponsoring Mad Men, and th. I would take a ride with Don Draper anytime. Diesel car or not.  And you can expect to find me attached to the TV this Sunday night.