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Mercedes-Benz Wishes BMW Happy Centennial, Can't Help Poke the Bavarians

Tom and Jerry, the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, Superman and Lex Luthor, the Rebels and the Empire, Donald Trump and Common Sense (sorry, couldn't help it) - these are just a few of the most famous couples of archenemies that have been created over the years.
BMW anniversary message from Mercedes-Benz 1 photo
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
None of them, though, is older than the rivalry that's been going on in the automotive industry for one hundred years now. It's what led to neverending arguments when we were little - and still does, thanks to internet forums and comment sections - and split us up into two separate sides. You couldn't just not care: not having an opinion was even worse than siding with the opposite camp.

We're obviously talking about the two greatest premium car manufacturers of all time, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. The Bavarians are now celebrating a century of activity, and so Mercedes-Benz thought it would be a great time to bury the hatchet and show it's a good sport. Only that is absolutely impossible to do in the world of advertising, so it just had to include a tiny little sting into the message.

Seeing the iconic BMW double-kidney grille followed by that text written in the Mercedes-Benz font is weird at first, as if somebody detached your head and screwed it back on the other way around - it seems unnatural, absurd. It's the same feeling you get when you first go to the UK or another country that drives on the left.

But things quickly go back to normal, as after the first piece of text where Mercedes-Benz thanks BMW for the 100 years of competition, comes the subtle prong at the Bavarians: "The previous 30 years were actually a bit boring." Auch. Rubbing it in somebody's face on its anniversary day is cruel - it's what a spoiled little girl would do to make sure everybody knows she's the leader of the pack.

It's the kind of video that will have Mercedes-Benz fans smirk, while every other human being on the planet will read through the thinly disguised veil of collegiality and see this short clip for what it really is: a crass lack of common sense. This thing has us worried for what Mercedes will come up with when it'll eventually become the best-selling premium brand in the world.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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