Mercedes Advertisement

I saw the funniest Mercedes ad in Bon Appétit the other day. Sadly, I don't think Mercedes intended the ad to be funny. The text read something like this:

"If I had not been in the car I was in, I probably wouldn't be alive today."

A major collision with a tractor trailer gave Paula Varsalona an altogether new appreciation for Mercedez-Benz engineering.

The truck stopped in front of her without warning. Traffic was moving fast and there was no time to react. The damage to her S600 was severe.

Ok, stop right there (no pun intended). Did the tractor trailer really stop so suddenly? Are you absolutely sure? I'm not certain, but I would have expected most any Mercedes to be able to stop faster than a tractor trailer.

Is it possible that you were, uhm, not paying attention? Maybe? Come on, think about it. Maybe you were talking on the phone? Sending a text message maybe? Mercedes... Tractor trailer... I'm not so sure I believe you. I'd hope for $140K you'd get a car with decent brakes.

Mercedes, is this really the message you were hoping to convey - That your cars have crappy brakes? Or was it that your drivers are inattentive?

How about if you hook up with ad agency that did the Geico caveman - maybe have a Mercedes run over a caveman. The tag line could be "Mercedes - the real reason the neandertals didn't survive."