What a surprise this video from BMW Japan is. Typically, car companies like to put out short films to promote their cars or just their brand in general. This, though, is an emotional tale and one that had me searching for cut onions somewhere near by.
It’s a story about a man named Masatoshi who owned an indigo dye business that had been around for over 200 years. Back in those times, cloth was dyed naturally and the business was good. But as artificial dyes became bigger and bigger, his business began to fail, as his process was too slow and expensive. So he simply couldn’t meet demand.
Despite the hardship, he stuck at it, turning his hands permanently blue over the years, and struggled to take care of his son, Hiroto, alone. His wife died young, so taking care of his son alone while trying to keep a struggling business going was difficult and Hiroto noticed.
Masatoshi’s sister Mikako offered to take care of his son while he got back on his feet, financially. But as any father would, Masatoshi declined, as he couldn’t give up his son. One day, Mikako offered Hiroto a trip to a nearby lake in a drive in her car. Just being in a car seemed like a luxury to Hiroto, so he was extremely excited. Feeling upstaged, Masatoshi lied and told Hiroto he also had a car. To “prove” it, he borrowed a brand-new E30 BMW 3 Series from his wealthier friend Koichi, who would help bring food and supplies every so often.
Unfortunately, Masatoshi crashed the 3 Series during his time with it and then had to admit the car wasn’t his. Thankfully, his friend Koichi was understanding and fixed the car but the even revealed Masatoshi’s issues to Mikako and she ended up taking Hiroto for a few months.
I won’t spoil the rest of the video because it’s surprisingly good for something from a car company’s YouTube channel. It’s deeply emotional and is more about the relationship between a father and son than about a car or a brand.
