Mercedes. Now With Grim Reaper In The Death Seat

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Speaking of car ads, never in my life would I have expected to see the grim reaper in a car ad. Especially not in the death seat. Especially not in a Mercedes ad. The boys from Sindelfingen never were known for their daredevil approach to advertising. Even at Volkswagen, which used to take more risk in their campaigns (

“Herr Schmitt! How often do we have to tell you: No negative advertising!!!!” It’s amazing that the Mercedes-Benz Brake Assistant System (BAS) ad [available after the jump] saw the light of day. Personally, I like it. Honestly, I’m envious of an agency that has gotten this ad through countless committees. Coming up with a good ad is easy. The hard part is having it approved.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Akitadog Akitadog on May 28, 2010

    Ooh, Death looks way too much like Ferdinand Piech. You think that was on purpose?

  • Panzerfaust Panzerfaust on May 28, 2010

    I'll bet the executives over at Chrysler can relate.

    • See 3 previous
    • Bertel Schmitt Bertel Schmitt on May 29, 2010

      I think the world, definitely the readers of TTAC, have been sufficiently notified that Daimler sucked the blood out of Chrysler and threw them away like a vampire a drained virgin. Whether its true or not, point made. The matter has been overtaken by other events at the hands of Cerberus, the U.S. government, and Fiat. Also, don't sweat little details. Daimler paid $36b for Chrysler. Then they paid Cerberus $650m to take Chrysler off Daimler's hands. Daimler paid another $1.3b for getting rid of their remaining 19.9 percent. They paid enough for their alleged sins. In the meantime, stockholders lost their investment, bondholders were NSFWd, dealers were killed, and Fiat got Chrysler for free. Let it go.

  • Lucianrosca Lucianrosca on May 28, 2010

    "Coming up with a good ad is easy. The hard part is having it approved." That's so true not just in advertising but also in design. It brings back so many memories, fortunately most of them positive.

  • Johnster Johnster on May 28, 2010

    I love the Ingmar Bergman references. It's no "De Duva," but they only had 45 seconds. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3803584387889303730# It's too bad Volvo or Saab didn't come up with it instead of Mercedes. You know what I mean?

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