Photo: YouTube Print Screen
Despite what some clever marketers will tell you, car manufacturers are in essence businesses based on supply and demand, and just like every other business out there, in order to stay afloat they need a minimum of two things: good, bankable products and the advertisements that help them sell those products.
We won't bore you with a marketing crash course about how advertisements (should) work, especially since most of you are (hopefully) grown up enough to distinguish between downright bull feces and honest ads.
On the other hand, just like some cars are better than others at stirring your petrolhead soul, so are some of the advertisements that are designed to sell them to the targeted customers, which is why we decided to skim through our favorite ads in recent years and make a winner-less top on each of the most important car brands out there.
The reason for choosing just print and outdoor ads and leaving video commercials aside is purely a technical one, as the shelf life of most types of online videos is as short as a sneeze in Internet time, while images can be saved more easily.
Without further ado, here are some of our favorite recent ads for Mercedes-Benz, the car company that we decided to feature in the first episode of our ad-friendly coverstory series.
Made by the Lobedu Leo Burnett agency in Johannesburg, South Africa, we like the “Toupee” print ad above not necessarily for the subtle humor, but for the fact that it's also self-deprecating.
We hate people who try to explain humor, but in this case we will make an exception. The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG is - as some of you know - one of the many expensive sports cars out there which are bought by men that have achieved a certain status in their life.
That status usually comes after a certain age, which is why you won't see too many teenagers driving around in expensive car. Ergo, Mercedes-Benz admits that some customers of the SLK 55 AMG are toupee-wearing old men in need of the adrenaline brought by an eight-cylinder AMG roadster.
Created by the Colenso BBDO agency in Auckland, New Zealand, this 2008 billboard ad was placed in an area were gridlocks are usually formed, therefore allowing plenty of time for the nearby drivers to read all its content.
While the text itself may sound brilliant to some people, others may find it a bit on the cheesy side, but we have to awkwardly admit that it did its job on us. What do you guys think?
The Jung von Matt agency from Hamburg, Germany is responsible for the Pre-Safe ad above, which is simply called “Wasp”.
Part of a recent series of three print ads that tries to humorously (okay, German humor) market the Mercedes-Benz Pre-Safe Brake system, we liked this one the most, as in our view it perfectly exemplifies a seemingly impossible chain of events that can lead to something bad.
As some of you know, the Pre-Safe Brake can automatically stop a Mercedes-Benz from having a frontal impact when the driver isn't paying enough attention or something unexpected jumps in front of the car.
Another Jung von Matt creation that managed to tickle our funny bone, the “Squirrel” ad above is also part of a series which includes various cute-looking forest animals that don't become road kill thanks to modern safety systems on certain Mercedes-Benzes.
In this case, the squirrel escapes getting run over courtesy of four active safety systems that were introduced by the three-pointed star: Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESP), Intelligent Light System (ILS) and Brake Assist System.
Jung von Matt seem to be on a roll when it comes to quirky way in which they can market certain Mercedes-Benz models or technologies lately, so it is no wonder that they are probably the most awarded German advertising agency.
The ad above is probably not as much trying to sell you the SLS AMG Electric Drive, but more like inform you about two intrinsic qualities of the electric silver arrow: the electricity it is using as fuel can also propel it to go fast and have zero CO2 emissions.
In the end, you should remember that adverts, like most subjective things in general, may be awesome for some and an acquired taste for other, so keep an open mind. All in all, you might want to stay tuned, because this area will soon be populated with more viral-worthy advertisements from other car makers as well.
On the other hand, just like some cars are better than others at stirring your petrolhead soul, so are some of the advertisements that are designed to sell them to the targeted customers, which is why we decided to skim through our favorite ads in recent years and make a winner-less top on each of the most important car brands out there.
The reason for choosing just print and outdoor ads and leaving video commercials aside is purely a technical one, as the shelf life of most types of online videos is as short as a sneeze in Internet time, while images can be saved more easily.
Without further ado, here are some of our favorite recent ads for Mercedes-Benz, the car company that we decided to feature in the first episode of our ad-friendly coverstory series.
Made by the Lobedu Leo Burnett agency in Johannesburg, South Africa, we like the “Toupee” print ad above not necessarily for the subtle humor, but for the fact that it's also self-deprecating.
We hate people who try to explain humor, but in this case we will make an exception. The Mercedes-Benz SLK 55 AMG is - as some of you know - one of the many expensive sports cars out there which are bought by men that have achieved a certain status in their life.
That status usually comes after a certain age, which is why you won't see too many teenagers driving around in expensive car. Ergo, Mercedes-Benz admits that some customers of the SLK 55 AMG are toupee-wearing old men in need of the adrenaline brought by an eight-cylinder AMG roadster.
Created by the Colenso BBDO agency in Auckland, New Zealand, this 2008 billboard ad was placed in an area were gridlocks are usually formed, therefore allowing plenty of time for the nearby drivers to read all its content.
While the text itself may sound brilliant to some people, others may find it a bit on the cheesy side, but we have to awkwardly admit that it did its job on us. What do you guys think?
The Jung von Matt agency from Hamburg, Germany is responsible for the Pre-Safe ad above, which is simply called “Wasp”.
Part of a recent series of three print ads that tries to humorously (okay, German humor) market the Mercedes-Benz Pre-Safe Brake system, we liked this one the most, as in our view it perfectly exemplifies a seemingly impossible chain of events that can lead to something bad.
As some of you know, the Pre-Safe Brake can automatically stop a Mercedes-Benz from having a frontal impact when the driver isn't paying enough attention or something unexpected jumps in front of the car.
Another Jung von Matt creation that managed to tickle our funny bone, the “Squirrel” ad above is also part of a series which includes various cute-looking forest animals that don't become road kill thanks to modern safety systems on certain Mercedes-Benzes.
In this case, the squirrel escapes getting run over courtesy of four active safety systems that were introduced by the three-pointed star: Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESP), Intelligent Light System (ILS) and Brake Assist System.
Jung von Matt seem to be on a roll when it comes to quirky way in which they can market certain Mercedes-Benz models or technologies lately, so it is no wonder that they are probably the most awarded German advertising agency.
The ad above is probably not as much trying to sell you the SLS AMG Electric Drive, but more like inform you about two intrinsic qualities of the electric silver arrow: the electricity it is using as fuel can also propel it to go fast and have zero CO2 emissions.
In the end, you should remember that adverts, like most subjective things in general, may be awesome for some and an acquired taste for other, so keep an open mind. All in all, you might want to stay tuned, because this area will soon be populated with more viral-worthy advertisements from other car makers as well.
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