Mercedes-Benz E-Class Gets Its First Commercials, They Speak About the Future

One year ahead of its official launch, we didn't know that much about the new mid-sized sedan from Stuttgart, but we did know it would feature virtually autonomous driving capabilities on the highways. Mercedes-Benz wanted to make sure that idea would stick to our heads, so it made it public as early as possible.

Now the E-Class is out, but not many people outside the parent company have driven it, so we're mostly still in the dark regarding its self-driving credentials. But Mercedes continues to pound on the idea, making this characteristic the center point of its recently launched advertising campaign for the new model.

Mercedes-Benz is suggesting that the only thing keeping it from releasing a self-driving car is the world's inability to cope with it at this moment. Or, at least, that's what we understand when we see the F015 Luxury in Motion concept rolling on a very contemporary road, while the voiceover asks "Is the world truly ready for a vehicle that can drive itself?"

Well, Mercedes, let's not blame this on the stupid "world" and call things as they are: your technology (and that of the other companies involved in this race) isn't yet ready to convince the lawmakers that autonomous cars should be allowed on the road. So stop wondering if we're ready: if you build it, we will buy it.

That's exactly what Mercedes-Benz wanted to hear, because as these two clips suggest, it has just what we're looking for. With shots of the driver taking his hands off the wheel and the bottom text reading "Vehicle cannot drive itself, but has automated driving features. System will remind the driver frequently to keep hands on the steering wheel," we're a bit baffled. It's almost as if Mercedes would want us to believe it's made an autonomous car, but it's not allowed to, so it places that disclaimer. Oh, right, that's exactly what it's doing.

The second video tells us the story of Prometheus, the car that tried to give earthlings the secret of autonomous driving. Thirty years ago. I don't know about you, but bragging that you've been trying to make a self-driving car for 30 years, only to be exactly where the other companies who've only been at it for less than a decade isn't exactly flattering. But maybe I just don't understand how this advertising business goes. Anyway, here are the two clips, and some print and online examples of the new campaign in the gallery.