Mercedes under fire for GL-Class ads
The National Advertising Division of the Council for Better Business Bureaus has publicly stated that Mercedes-Benz should remove a commercial for its GL-Class full-size SUV that shows the vehicle ramming a crash sled and repelling it. Despite the fact that the ad in question contains a disclaimer tag at the bottom of the screen that states actual side impact tests incur "significant" body damage, the NAD thinks consumers might not get the fact that Mercedes is using hyperbole to demonstrate the GL's abilities.
The NAD must figure we're all scarecrows on our way to the Wizard for a brain, and until we get one it's their job to point out the obvious for us. We'll lay it out for the NAD so it doesn't have to worry about gullible consumers: the GL-Class can't repel side impact barriers, can't set slalom cones on fire, and can't swallow an entire home's worth of furniture. The only thing the NAD has shown by creating this issue out of nothing is that it's as dumb as it thinks we are.
[Source: BrandWeek via eMercedesBenz]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tommy 8:16PM (8/08/2006)
I think the mother-in-law would get confused by this ad....
Reply
SayWhat 8:26PM (8/08/2006)
one of the better car ads among current ads.
NAD has gone MAD (just had to say it!)
Reply
chuck goolsbee 8:31PM (8/08/2006)
You have to wonder, WTF were they thinking?
I realize all the claims made were ludicrous, but there wasn't enough tongue in the cheek there. Besides, the bogus crash test essentially casts doubt on REAL crash tests. It shows a huge lack of judgement on the part of the advertiser to even go there.
--chuck
Reply
Edsel 8:38PM (8/08/2006)
Lawyers, they are a humorless bunch, aren't they?
Reply
villainy 8:40PM (8/08/2006)
Go away chuck nobody wants to see your blog anyway. I thought the commercial was great and anyone who thinks it casts doubt on real crash tests should join Tommy's mother-in-law and stay the hell off the road.
Reply
SKluck 8:44PM (8/08/2006)
Wow, great commercial. You'd have to be legally retarded to not understand the hyperbole. Can 25 foot canoes fit in SUVs, can they tow 2 story houses? Give me a break. Every example was exaggerated greatly.
Reply
Dana 8:54PM (8/08/2006)
I'm going to be pissed if my GL-class doesn't light cones on fire in an autocross.
Damn misleading advertising.
Reply
John 9:40PM (10/12/2008)
The NAD didn't object to the VW commercial of a Taureg towing an airstream camper did they? As I remember, it was a customer that sued them for false advertising when they broke theirs trying the same thing. That commercial was not meant to be a joke, and was reeeally dumb. This one is silly, and anyone who falls for it should wear a shiny red helmet wherever they go.
Reply
Pinky 9:30PM (8/08/2006)
I for one welcome our Mercedes GL overlords.
Reply
roace 9:37PM (8/08/2006)
This is crap! People should use common sense, these days you have to dumb down everything you do. If Mercedes is under fire for this, what happened to the Toyota commercials? Remember the Tundra commercial where a piano and a whole bunch of other things fall on top of it, after which the truck just takes off without a scratch!? Not to mention the one for the Tacoma with the asteroid. We should use our brains more often!
Reply
icerabbit 9:39PM (8/08/2006)
Why does EVERYTHING in the US become so dumbed down, watered down ...
Next thing it will be chuck's law against certain ads. ;)
Reply
joshj 9:48PM (8/08/2006)
I for one thought the ad was brilliant and laughed out loud the first time I saw the sled bounce back from the car....
Reply
groov 9:52PM (8/08/2006)
LIES LIKE TRUTH.
If they had a good product in the first place they would not have to lie about it in an ad.
It's like those Toyota pick-up ads.
Simply bald-faced fraud. A small disclaimer is no excuse.
Reply
chewy 9:53PM (8/08/2006)
I know about commons sense, but those GL ads (all of them) are some of the worst ads ever. They are very annoying IMO. They are a good reason not to buy the GL.
Reply
robino 10:00PM (8/08/2006)
NAD Alert! Dirt Devil is planning an advertisement showing Paris Hilton sucking the chrome off a bumper.
Reply
epp_b 10:01PM (8/08/2006)
No, no, no! This is good! Mercedes is doing a good thing for the gene pool of humanity: people who are dumb enough to actually believe the hilariously exaggerated elements in this advertisement will go out and buy one and then wrap it around a telephone pole thinking it's indestructable. Perfect!
Reply
Dana 10:14PM (8/08/2006)
#13: "NAD Alert! Dirt Devil is planning an advertisement showing Paris Hilton sucking the chrome off a bumper."
That's hot.
Reply
Pedal to the metal 10:56PM (8/08/2006)
Only some MORON would believe that the GL could stand up to an impact like that.
Oh wait a minute... there are so many fucking morons on the road already. Maybe NAD has a point... NAH!
Reply
steve lumley 11:10PM (8/08/2006)
makes sense---generally people driving big suvs have small penises or they are 4 foot soccer moms getting back at the world for being runts
Reply
David 11:13PM (8/08/2006)
I agree with the NAD. I agree with the above comment that the ads were not clearly "tongue in cheek," and frankly, I have to question the general common sense of the wealthy soccer moms (see the Housewives of Orange County) who will actually be purchasing these vehicles. a $90k large SUV does not make sense, as the very PURPOSE of such a vehicle is to take the abuse that lesser vehicles cannot handle. At $90k, I shudder to think what type of repair bills follow such abuse, as is expected with any well-used truck.
If we are arguing that one should have common sense enough to recognize this commercial is funny rather than serious, I agree. But to argue that we can assume anyone buying such a vehicle ACTUALLY HAS common sense enough to recognize this commercial is funny rather than serious, I believe, is a serious leap of faith.
Reply