The archive · Brand & Identity · Marketing decision · 2025
BMW's octopus Okto waltzes underwater to explain its invisible Heart of Joy — Webby winner
BMW explained its new central control unit with a CG octopus dancing a coordinated waltz — Best Use of Animation at the 2026 Webbys.
BMW
What it had to solve
BMW's coming Neue Klasse electric cars are built around Heart of Joy, a central control unit that unites drive, braking, energy recuperation and partial steering in one 'superbrain'. It was unveiled in April 2025 at Auto Shanghai — an engineering leap that a spec sheet could not make people feel.
How it works
BMW's Neue Klasse electric cars introduce Heart of Joy, a central control unit that brings drive, braking, energy recuperation and part of the steering under one computer. The technology was demonstrated in April 2025 at Auto Shanghai, but its promise — coordination so fast it feels effortless — is invisible to anyone who does not drive it.
The campaign idea was to borrow biology. A real octopus runs a decentralized nervous system, moving its arms almost independently — much like a conventional car with separate control units. BMW's film asks what happens if that octopus gains one central brain, exactly what Heart of Joy does to the car.
In 'Meet Okto the Octopus' (Octowaltz), created by Jung von Matt Hamburg and produced by Parasol Island with Untold Studios, a fully CG octopus performs a precise underwater waltz, dodging hazards while eight arms move in perfect coordination. The team studied real octopus behaviour, then dialled up human qualities until the creature felt joyful rather than alien.
The result turned an engineering announcement into a piece of cinema. The film ran online and in cinemas worldwide, won Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics at the 2026 Webby Awards, and took two Visual Effects Society awards, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial.
Why it lands
- It gave invisible technology a body: the octopus's coordinated arms make 'unified control' visible in a single shot.
- The metaphor was structurally exact — real octopuses run eight arms on a decentralized nervous system, so giving Okto one central brain mirrored the engineering instead of faking it.
- Craft carried the explanation: authentic behaviour mixed with human charm made the waltz read as performance rather than technical diagram.
- One character scaled the story across film, social and launch communications, giving the Neue Klasse story a face.
What it did
The invisible computer became a character audiences could watch: the film won Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics at the 2026 Webby Awards and took two Visual Effects Society awards, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial.
What you can take
When the product is invisible, cast a stand-in whose body demonstrates the principle: an octopus's eight coordinated arms explain centralized control faster than any spec sheet.
Since then
After the June 2025 launch, Okto became the recurring face of BMW's Heart of Joy story into the Neue Klasse launch. The film accumulated craft awards through early 2026 — the Webby for Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics and two Visual Effects Society awards — while BMW's press work continued to explain the control unit's role in its next-generation electric cars.
Sources
- Octowaltz: BMW launches virtuosic Heart of Joy campaign
- Untold Studios Wins Big at Visual Effects Society Awards for BMW 'Heart of Joy'
- 30th Annual Webby Awards. Winners
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