The other day I was discussing car advertising with my son (he creates interactive advertising, I'm a former agency creative director). We both agreed that current North American car commercials rank among the worst ever produced. And that Volkswagen of America will destroy itself if it continues its campaign in which the German language is lampooned. The secret to great TV advertising is to find a unique product feature and then demonstrate it. All the rest is "technique" but unfortunately too many ad creatives, most of whom don't know or care that their job is to sell product, get hung up on technique or cute phrases, hoping it will win them an award and therefore more money. For years the best commercials came from Europe and that's true today. Why? Because they're not afraid of irreverent humour and because they understand the need to demonstrate a product advantage honestly and intelligently. But there's still hope, according to this Business Week article on BMW's new campaign. Photo: American Dreams