Mercedes-Benz Presents Its Compact Range with the Help of an Art Museum Robbery

The BBDO advertising agency in Paris has come up with a TV commercial that showcases each of the five models, highlighting their individual qualities. It all takes place inside a police precinct where three detectives are trying to figure out what car the suspects used for their getaway.

It all starts with the most basic of the five models, the A-Class. The hatchback can be considered the starting point for the lot, being the first to bring this new design language and offering its platform for all the other models to use. You can view the rest of Mercedes-Benz’s four compact cars as different derivations of the A-Class and you wouldn’t be too far off. Actually, you’d be spot on.

One of the detectives in the clip points out that there were accomplices, so they agree that a B-Class would make more sense. Willingly suggesting that the A-Class isn’t a good match for four people isn’t a very sound strategy, but we’ll let it slip since the clip is quite enjoyable and the idea is a nice one, all in all.

So with that settled, another piece of the puzzle is thrown in: one of the witnesses said it was definitely a coupé. Well, darn, Mercedes-Benz has absolutely no compact coupés. Unless he was fooled by the CLA’s coupéish silhouette. Yup, that must be it, and somehow we’re back to a car that has the exact same interior space as the A-Class. We sincerely hope real policemen are more thorough than this.

Another detective reminds everybody that the robbers were carrying artwork, so they needed a bigger trunk. That Mercedes has in the CLA Shooting Brake, so the case is settled. “Unless...” says a detective, and we’re shown the image of a GLA crossover - which is neither a coupé nor a particularly roomy car. Oh, we’re just nit-picking, the commercial is great.