The voiceover for Mercedes' "Ignite" commercial for the new E-Class starts with "It is, quite simply, the most advanced automobile we have every created." However, during the start-up sequence before that voiceover, the actual commercial begins with a warning light: when the driver turns the car on, the message "Front Right SRS Malfunction Service Required" appears in the dash – not the type of message you expect to see when your car fires up and does its system check. Still, knowing how these things work, we suspect this commercial was probably filmed early on in a pre-production prototype with an inactive airbag – a common enough occurrence with these sorts of vehicles.
In any case, to watch the commercial and check out Mercedes' official response to the flub, hit the jump. Hat tip to Wai.
UPDATE: Mercedes-Benz USA blocked access to video of the commercial on YouTube, but they didn't get rid of all the copies. Follow the jump for a salvaged excerpt of the commercial.
[Source: YouTube, Mercedes-Benz]
The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.
"During the filming of our latest E Class television advert, the vehicle was significantly altered to create an environment conducive to filming the interior of the vehicle. As is typical in such a situation, doors and seats were removed and a number of features de-activated in order to allow the camera rig access. The vehicle's safety sensors performed exactly as they should and activated a warning signal indicating a disruption of the vehicle's Supplemental Restraint System.
"The fact that the image -- which is visible only in a frame by frame review of the ad i.e. not by the naked eye -- was not edited out of the advertisement was an oversight and has subsequently been corrected.
"The E Class is the most tested car we have ever launched and reaches the highest quality levels we have ever produced.
"While this is a mistake in the editing process it is in no way a reflection on the quality or durability of the E-Class"
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