Fasten your seatbelt and hold on tight, because we’re about to take a joyride through Mercedes-Benz’s zany and unforgettable advert from 2021 promoting the future of driverless parking technology.
In a stroke of sheer brilliance, this short film cunningly conceals its true nature as an advertisement for the new S-Class for the first three quarters of the ad.
But the audience’s patience is rewarded, as the lead up to the reveal takes them on a pulse-pounding journey of fun, thrills and laughter.
Following three valet drivers and their daring antics in customer cars, we’re talking burnouts, J-turns and high-flying jumps, this 2021 Mercedes-Benz commercial promotes the brand’s innovative technology in a humorous and action-packed story.
Meet Freddy, Rusty and Ace, the three valet drivers who are introduced via funky cinematic opening titles and a quirky soundtrack.
To escape the dreariness of their everyday job, the trio take a variety of cool and classic Mercedes-Benz vehicles for a spin, we even get to see a W202 C-Class handbrake into a parking space with easy precision in the first eight seconds.
Before brand connoisseurs get carried away with the fact the W202 doesn’t have a handbrake, Mercedes-Benz includes a playful caption that states ‘of course we know this car actually has a parking brake with a foot pedal, but it just looks damn good like this in the film,’ and we couldn’t agree more.
But the fun comes to an unexpected end when a woman drives past in a new S-Class, which features Intelligent Park Pilot, and does not stop at the valet stand.
This is when the penny drops, so to speak, and the message of the advert becomes clear: innovative self-parking features could see the valet guys out of a job, and then we won’t have to worry about what happens once we hand over our keys!
The advert features a disclaimer stating the self-parking function ‘can currently not be used’ and explains its future depends on legislation and equipping parking garages with the required infrastructure.
The tongue-in-cheek and deliberately exaggerated commercial demonstrates Mercedes-Benz is at the forefront of autonomous driving technologies that are expected to become more mainstream and affordable.
For years, Mercedes-Benz has been working in the realm of AVP technology and in an extraordinary partnership with leading electronics manufacturer Bosch and renowned parking garage operator Apcoa, they launched a ground-breaking pilot program at Stuttgart Airport in 2020.
This advert is a great way of promoting revolutionary technology in a fun and entertaining action-packed narrative.
