When the moon is in the Seventh House / and Jupiter aligns with Mars / Then peace will guide the planets / and love will steer the stars. Mercedes' "Alignment" commercial doesn't actually use those lyrics from the musical Hair, but it sure makes me think of them, and if and when that glorious confluence of goodness ever comes, I sure as hell want to be in the right car and place to enjoy it. Synchronized green lights as far as the eye can see, clean fresh asphalt, nobody on the street except, bizarrely, a tall guy with a briefcase . . . bring it on! A 2014 Mercedes-Benz C-class, you say? Hmmm, well, it might not be my first choice, but the new-for-'14 C63 AMG Edition 507 would be great. I just hope those traffic lights can cycle through to green fast enough to keep up.
But wait a minute. That isn't a 507, or even a regular C63—it's a C250 Sport sedan. That's the car I'm supposed to want for the Moment of Moments? A passenger sedan with a 1.8 liter turbocharged four-banger that pumps out 201 horses and takes almost seven seconds to hit 60? That's the setup that's going to let me light up the tires and keep 'em smoking halfway down the block? My '64 GTO has 348 hp, a four-on-the-floor, and old-school Positraction and it still takes a heavy foot and fancy clutch work to get that kind of burnout action going.
- Comparo: BMW 328i vs. Audi A4 2.0T, Infiniti G25, Mercedes C250, Volvo S60
- Photos and Info: 2014 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Edition 507
- First Drive: 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-class / C250 / C350
The voiceover in this commercial promises "power, performance, and style." Those qualities are all open to subjective interpretation, so there's no foul there, but burnouts constitute a specific demonstration of ability. The C250 Sport is a solid, sophisticated car that provides a lot of the things you'd want in an entry-luxury sedan, but tire-burning acceleration and muscle aren't among its merits. So why does this commercial include a dubious visual that throws the rest of the claims into question? The executional concept is interesting, but in the interest of believability, I say they should have saved it for a C-class that includes the letters "AMG" in its name.
Award-winning ad man-cum-auto journalist Don Klein knows a good (or bad) car commercial when he sees one; the Ad Section is his space to tell you what he thinks of the latest spots. The ad's rating is depicted via the shift pattern at the bottom, but everyone has an opinion when it comes to advertising, so hit Backfires below and tell us what you think, too.
from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com
Put the internet to work for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment