Sometimes the creative department within an advertising agency tries too hard to force-fit an ‘idea’ into a marketing brief. Above is example of such folly. Worse still is their ‘effort’ to conceal the marque of this poor car.
Apologies for the picture quality, this pathetic attempt was extracted from a newspaper. Over to you.
Further Reading
The Deliberately Anonymous Car Part 1
The Deliberately Anonymous Car Part 2
The Deliberately Anonymous Car Part 3
They didn’t even try. Grade “F”.
If I were Jaguar, I’d have been prepared to sue
Some ones watch is fast. its not April 1st yet!
Poor Jag. They didn’t fool anyone.
What philistine would put Pep Boys plastic hubcaps on a XJ6?
I figured this ad would be from the mid 90s, but reading the fine print it’s from 2017, hocking GLCs. We’ll see how these modern Mercs fare compared to this poor Jag after 30 years+
“Hi. We are from Mercedes. Not driving a Mercedes? It is a piece of shit. Trade it in. What? You are driving a Mercedes and it left you stranded? Well you plainly did not take care of it.”
You serviced it to factory recommendations? Obviously you do not drive the Mercedes in a proper manner.
So, the ad is telling you to “forget” to set the parking brake, collect the insurance and run out and buy a Mercedes?
I have noticed a lot of negative focused mercedes ads over the last 2 decades, which I find annoying, and definitely a turn off towards the brand, now that I can afford it.
Its way too pretentious, and I have zero interest in being associated with that A hole attitude they love to display.
Which reminds me, of our next door neighbours when growing up, who just HAD to have a white Mercedes, regardless of consequence. They loved to brag about it, even if it was an old high milage one, and come with snarky comments about my dads new mazda, and how he one day might get to “upgrade” to one too.
They couldn’t however afford the payments though. So every week they would come on our door and borrow potatoes, bread, and other plain staples to feed their family. I don’t recall they ever coming back with anything.
I guess they fell right in with those guys making this ad.
XR7Matt:
My BIL owns a new GLA, he knows that I am a “car guy”, like he thinks he is. He got a bit “bent out of shape”, when I wouldn’t go out to the garage to examine his new SUV…..”the cheapest one Mercedes-Benz sells”. Aside from it being an CUV which I consider to be nothing more than a jacked up hatchback, telling people that you own the cheapest example of a particular luxury brand of car is not an enticement for interest.
All these smaller Mercedes put me in mind of those awful small hatchbacks that were sold about….10/15/20 years ago.
Interesting take on it. I understand your reasoning, and it is a true statement, but it wouldn’t have killed you to go look at it. It would have given you reasons to point out why he paid a lot for a jacked up, FWD hatch with aspirations rather than a real car. You could have pointed out that the Infiniti Q30 version costs less and has just as much cache and is the identical car, save badges and grille. Then, after that, you could have reminded him that the cheapest version of any luxury product shows others that you aimed high and fell short. And then you could have walked back into his house and felt the wrath of his wife, your sibling or your wifes sister. I guess a divorce lawyer isn’t cheap, and Thanksgiving is awkward enough as it is.
Man, this is bad. They couldn’t even get the rivalry right: I’d guess the prospective Mercedes buyer would more likely be dumping an Audi or BMW. This isn’t as eye-punchingly annoying as the Chevy “Real People” commercials, but it’s pretty lazy.
A feeble attempt at advertising. I dare say Darrin Stevens of McMann and Tate could have done much better with a slogan for them. This is fugly.
You guys are being car guys. There is probably a whole generation of young Mercedes buyers that wouldn’t have a clue that was a Jaguar.
Most twenty something Mercedes fans wouldn’t know a Jag from that vintage if it ran over them.
I include myself in this but we and the cars we appreciate are getting OLD!?
As a twenty something, a Mercedes model of my youth would be be a good substitute for this Jag. A W210 would look mighty appropriate there. Just block out its own inboard lights like they did the Jag they ripped that off from
“Twenty-something” and a Mercedes fan, and it took me about 0.0001 seconds to recognize the Jaguar.
Happy Easter everyone!
Since the electronics are by Lucas, starting, accessories performance and driveability will not suffer and may well improve after the JagBMWuar dries out.
Unfortunate, and counterproductive. The ad unthinkingly pushes a portrait of a potential Mercedes owner as someone so self-consumed they feel entitled to dump their car where it clearly says not to. Rush! Cheat! Then you too can gorge your vanity on a brand name car! Screw anyone else!
As for the Jag, it’s comic, as if the art editor began a grand disguise (a grand mufti?) by removing headlights, and then went to lunch.
The Best or Nothing? Given that they’re selling nothing – the nothingful GLC – Mercedes clearly chose nothing instead of the best to sell it.
How new is this ad? IIRC that is Mercedes’ new slogan “the best or nothing”. If so, it’s a 35+ year old Jag, which might be due for scrapping or restoration anyway. If they wanted to make a point they should have gone with a newer model.
Kia used to have an a Sedona ad featuring a family pushing a badgeless, black Ford Windstar off a cliff.
Noteworthy…use of the word “sale.” I had to click on the ad to see where it had come from. Appears to be Australia.
Usually MB sales in the US are a “sales event” or just plain “event” or even “opportunity.” Calling it a “sale” is usually too much like common-people-speak.
Must not be an issue down under.