Mini marks its 50th birthday at the Frankfurt Motor Show with a pep rally, cupcakes, and the requisite DJ.

As part of the BMW Group's massive presence at the Frankfurt Show, Mini takes up a sizable section of BMW's new Hall 11, an impressively large and modern new home for BMW, Mini, and Rolls-Royce. That alone was reason enough for Mini to celebrate, but the brand had other reasons to crow this morning: the world debuts of the Mini Coupe Concept and the Mini Roadster Concept, plus the 50th birthday of the Mini brand itself. A loud group of dancers and cheerleaders circled the entire Hall 11, chanting and dancing to loud music. The party continued on the Mini stand, where a DJ was spinning and birthday cupcakes were being distributed by attractive young women.

Later today, the third leg of the BMW Group's Frankfurt program will be the Rolls-Royce press conference. I bet the atmosphere will be just a little bit different from the party theme on the Mini stand....