When Audi and BMW Went Head to Head in Billboard Battle

Brand Rivalry

This was the local battle of the brands that went viral a few years back. A seemingly innocent Audi billboard was placed in a busy Los Angeles intersection, but before long, it turned into a marketing battle between the German make and their rivals at BMW. The back-and-forth garnered quite a bit of attention.

The First Shot

It all started with a billboard from Audi, showcasing what was the new A4 at the time. The billboard read: "Chess? No thanks, I'd rather be driving." It came across as innocent enough. But within a few days, the billboard was changed to take a slight jab at BMW.

Your Move BMW

The new version of the billboard read: "Your move, BMW." With this clever ad, the Audi team made a second chess reference, while also poking their colleagues at BMW with a challenge. The BMW folks happily obliged.

Checkmate

Their response was a billboard right across the street from Audi's, with a photo of the M3 model of that time. The ad had a simple one-word response for their rival: "Checkmate." BMW chose to bring the mighty E90 M3 to combat the A4, which isn't exactly a fair fight. An RS4 would have been a better competitor, but we digress. 

The King

The ball fell back into Audi's court, and they responded by bringing their heaviest hitter to the battle: the R8. Continuing the chess references, this latest ad read: "Your pawn is no match for our king." Truly, BMW had no high-performance production vehicle that could take on Audi's mid-engine supercar.

Game Over

That's why the Bavarians had to resort to race cars to be able to compete. And racers don't come any faster than Formula One cars. BMW's final blow was a blimp, showing their F1 car, with the caption: "Game over." 

One could argue that BMW took the win, while others would believe Audi's production lineup takes the cake. Not to mention, years later, Audi became a dominant force in endurance racing while BMW is nowhere to be found in the pinnacle of motor racing. But the truth is that both brands came away as winners, as no single billboard would have drawn as much attention to each brand as this viral battle did.

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