“Fender bender: Mercedes-Benz?”

As the commercial opens, you can hear laughter and see a new Mercedes-Benz SUV (they call them “light trucks” on their Web site) traveling down a city street. It’s evening, and the travelers continue to chuckle. The SUV stops, everyone gets out, runs around the car, and gets back in to grab a new seat position (we used to call these “fire drills” in my youth). The tagline at the end says “safety in any seat” (position).

Then I see the commercial for the Mercedes-Benz sport sedan. This time they have two cars side by side ‘street racing’ from a stoplight; it’s one of those continuing story ads (guy meets girl). It ends with a catchphrase of “six speed short-throw gearbox” (for performance). There is no traffic in this one, too. I suppose that’s their way of showing restraint and good judgment.

With all the emphasis on safe-driving, what would possess a luxury car company to advocate adults to act like this? I’m not sure how this translates to 'safety' as a competitive advantage over other cars in this class (SUVs or sport sedans). As for me, I walked away from the ad saying, “What were they thinking?”

In comparison, I saw a new ad for the Audi Q7 SUV. It struck me as a classy ad with fitting music. I liked the ‘cutaway(s)’ to the Audi racecars to intimate performance. Even better, in my mind, is Audi running the commercial on the opening of their Web site. Nice uniformity and reemphasis to keep it in my mind.

I’ll be the first to say I appreciate humor and cleverness in advertising. I really have gotten a kick out of the Fruit of the Loom guys in the “low-rider” (car) during the “Tour de France” on OLN (soon to be “Versus”). In comparison to the M-B ad, I think this one does build “brand recognition” in a more responsible manner. The ad makes for a great display of their product reach beyond undergarments, too, as they ‘cruise’ through the streets with Fruit of the Loom wear on many corners.

What do you think? What builds brand, and awareness? What damages it? Give us some examples, preferably those that anyone can use (no matter the size of company, or products/services they sell). Keep cost in mind, too. Television, magazine, and radio ads don’t come cheap. Let’s hear some of your ideas that all of us can use.