2012 Rolls-royce on 2040-cars

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Grey Poupon's Pardon Me Lost Footage ad airs during Oscars

Those of you that took our tip and tuned in for last night's Academy Awards may have caught the latest iteration of the famous Grey Poupon commercials, featuring a pair of Rolls-Royce sedans and their condiment-loving stewards. The update to the 1981 commercial was only shown in part on television, however, as the mustard company directed viewers to its website to see the entirety of the Lost Footage spot. Of course if you didn't bother then, you can just scroll down to see the full-length two-minute commercial here.
As you're viewing, note that the Grey Poupon marketers did not, it would appear, get official sanction from Rolls-Royce this time around. While the Rollers in the commercial have all sorts of James Bond-like accouterments, they don't appear to have the official Spirit of Ecstasy hood ornaments, for example, and they have restyled lights and grilles. Check out the new spot below, and see if it stacks up to the iconic Pardon Me original.

BMW's Connected Drive feature vulnerable to hackers

BMW is working to fix a cyber-security flaw that has left 2.2 million vehicles worldwide vulnerable to hackers. Cars equipped with the automaker's Connected Drive remote-services system are affected, according to the German Automobile Association (ADAC), which first discovered the problem. Researchers found they could lock and unlock car doors by mimicking mobile communications and sending phony signals to a SIM card installed in affected vehicles. An attack could be launched "within minutes" of accessing the system without the perpetrators leaving a trace, according to their report, in part because once they had gained access to the network, the communications were not secure. In response to the security gap, BMW says it has been upgrading software via over-the-air updates over the past week, so no visits to dealerships are needed to remedy the security hole. In fact, owners of affected cars may not have even noticed the updates taking place. The problem affects BMW, Rolls-Royce and MINI vehicles equipped with Connected Drive since 2010. Flaws were first reported to BMW last year by ADAC, which is the country's equivalent of AAA. ADAC says it withheld a public announcement until the car company could address the problem. While BMW has pushed the software patch to most affected vehicles, the organization said it's possible some at cars in the United States had not yet been updated. BMW did not respond to a request for comment Monday. In a written statement, the automaker said it knows of no real-world breaches. 2015 Off To Dubious Start The hack could raise the eyebrows of industry leaders: Cars are now the equivalent of mobile computers and cyber-security experts have been warning that the auto industry has been slow to close its security holes. BMW's breach marks the second time in 2015 that researchers have found a popular automotive feature with little or no security precautions. Last month, experts said a popular device made by Progressive Insurance that allows motorists to track their driving habits contained no security whatsoever. Like the Connected Drive smart-phone app, many automotive components and infotainment features were conceived and produced at a time when industry executives never considered the possibility someone might want to hack into them. But increased connectivity brings increased risk. Going forward, BMW says its Connected Drive features will now operate by using encrypted communications via the HTTPS protocol.

Ultra-luxury automakers like Bentley and Rolls-Royce need to hurry up with EVs

In the five years that I've worked at Autoblog, I've read a lot of press releases. They're all pretty flowery and self-serving, but the ones that go the extra distance with lavish words and pompous phrasing tend to come from the most luxurious brands, Bentley and Rolls-Royce. And something that they both love talking about is sustainably sourced materials for their vehicles. The descriptions read like they've seen the light about using resources responsibly. That would be great, except for one thing: There's nothing sustainable about multi-ton land yachts with eight or more cylinders. Only one of Bentley's models can be had with fuel economy better than 20 mpg combined when running on gasoline, and guess what, it's not one of the brand's two plug-in hybrids (which are to be commended, but still seem half-hearted when we're talking serious sustainability). And Rolls-Royce is even worse without a single model even hitting 15 mpg combined. These automakers should have at least one EV model apiece. Apparently, there are some coming, but they're still years away, and that frankly shocks and frustrates me for a number of reasons. One of the big ones is that these brands couldn't be better suited to electric propulsion. What makes these cars impressive is their refinement and performance. You can't get much better in either of those categories than with beefy electric motors, which provide nearly silent operation with no gear changes and enormous power and torque ratings. And it's all achievable with a lot less effort than making an 8- or 12-cylinder internal combustion engine quiet and smooth. Sure, battery technology is complicated, and it's expensive and heavy, but all of that is covered by these brand's typical products. They can command prices that would easily absorb the cost of batteries. And the size and weight of current cars mean that loading them up with batteries to achieve range comparable to their gas models wouldn't be a problem, either. Heck, that's the exact strategy being used by GM and Ford to get huge range in their electric trucks. 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo S View 41 Photos And the cost of the EV technology shouldn't even be that great for Bentley or Rolls-Royce, since they're both owned by companies that are leaders in electric car development with existing technology and the ability to spread costs out over various brands.