https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvHFM8c7cPM
Iconic filmmakers the Coen Brothers were back this year with an ad for Superbowl, one playing heavily on nostalgia, for Mercedes Benz. Via Forbes:
As much as the Super Bowl will be about the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons, so too will it be about the battle for television advertisement. The annual event for the NFL is historically one of—if not the—largest television audience of the year. Super Bowl 50 in 2016 saw 111.9 million viewers, with 72% of U.S. home TVs tuned into the telecast. That metric was the highest since Super Bowl XVI in 1982.
Advertisers look to tap into this hefty viability, and with FOX charging $5 million per 30 second spot, companies look to ensure that they win the battle of the Super Bowl ads, many of which will be all new airing for the first time during game.
Into this steps Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz. The company has tapped Merkley and Partners as the ad firm for their spot, but what’s most interesting may not be its star (Peter Fonda) and the story line (think the 60’s classic, Easy Rider), but the directors for it.
The ad sees Joel and Ethan Coen directing. The pair noted for movies such as “No Country for Old Men,” “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski”. This will mark the third Super Bowl ad for the pair (prior were for H&R Block in 2002 and Honda 18 years ago).
The ad targets the upcoming debut of the high-performance Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster with Fonda not pulling up to a bar filled with aging bikers on his signature chopper, but in the top-of-the-line sports car.
As Ad Age notes, it’s part of Mercedes new strategy of giving more marketing attention to AMG, which is its sports car and high-performance sub brand.
“The AMG brand, over the past decades, has gained a phenomenal following among true performance enthusiasts and we pay that off with a continuous stream of new products leading up to this year’s much anticipated Mercedes-AMG GT C Roadster,” said Drew Slaven, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA). “So the goal with the spot was to pay homage to the history that brought us to this point with something iconic but authentic that would resonate with people who have a passion for open air driving, who live for the call of the road and who share a little of that rebellion from the norm. This film, which came out late in the ‘60’s, as did AMG, was the perfect vehicle for a fast drive down memory lane.”