2012 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Disco Animals
Though Mercedes-Benz has made some outstanding commercials in the past, they can’t all be home runs. The creative minds behind this latest ad produced for the German market apparently thought badly-animated CG animals dancing to the Bee Gees best highlighted the E-Class’ stop-start function. Yeah, that’s exactly what we think of when we imagine the benefits of start-stop.
The spot opens with a Mercedes driver navigating a dark, narrow road, when the car suddenly brakes for a deer in its path. A short pause, and then the deer commences its awkward booty shake, as other animals join in. Our German’s a bit rusty, so we’re not sure exactly what the driver says after witnessing the forest critter disco party – though his look of annoyance might indicate this isn’t the first time it’s happened.
The dancing continues as some text pops up onscreen. After plugging these words into a free online translator, we get roughly, “Safe thanks to assistance systems. Efficient thanks to standard ECO start-stop function. If your stops are a little longer.” Though the message that you’re not burning gas when at a stop comes across just fine, we’re not sure the Sci-fi-Channel-movie-grade computer animation is necessary. Maybe next time, Mercedes.
