As part of an advertising campaign supporting the X3 Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) launch, BMW of North America assembled four Mack Granite-mounted mixers - one Continental, one McNeilus and two Schwing Stetters - with drums bearing the message “This is an SUV” and reference to the Web site www.nobehemoths.com. The messages were printed on 3M Removal Vinyl in a “wrap” style employing advanced printing technology for large format graphics.

The mixers made the rounds in late October along high profile Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New York City routes. Campaign developers report that mixers and buses bearing similar graphics were to represent conventional sports utility vehicles and convey to drivers that the new X3 is “not an SUV” but rather the antithesis of such a vehicle. The message plays off the notion that many SUVs are based on the same chassis as that of a truck, as opposed to the SAVs, which BMW builds from the ground up.

The X3 campaign's use of mixer trucks follows a similar “buzz marketing” tactic Los Angeles-based FreeCar Media deployed in 2005 for Coca Cola's Full Throttle launch. A self-styled “Nontraditional Marketing Services Company,” FreeCar worked with Mack Trucks to secure both campaigns' mixers; designed graphics around three drum configurations; and, produced the wraps on in house printing equipment. Additional Full Throttle campaign images can be viewed at www.Freecarmedia.com.