Bring That Beat Back

I don’t really care about the new $44,825, 2008 Mercedes-Benz M-Class, or Benzes generally, but I would give my eyeteeth to get a high-quality loop of the music that beds this commercial, titled “Most.”

In the spot, while car action footage mixes with testimonials to M-B superiority from Mercedes engineers, factory workers, and other employees, a full chorale sings a hushed epinicion, or song of triumph, underneath. One can detect a bowed string bass, and very occasional, light percussion. Together, the sound is warm…and expectant.

The piece disappoints none. At the 18-second mark, an assured and confident beat drops, accompanied, right at the end, by the brief but passionate charge of restless violas. The feel can most strongly be described as “classical symphonic b-boy,” and, in a slightly more inventive world, somebody would be putting out a rap over this tomorrow morning. I’ve not been so moved by the music in a car ad since Volvo used the ethereal light of John Rutter & the Cambridge Singers’ “What Sweeter Music” to sell safety as their core corporate concept.

All of this visibility is clearly the direct outgrowth of Mercedes-Benz’s new, $100 million national advertising campaign, announced in mid-February, to push their C-Class sedans and M-Class premium SUVs in the U.S. As UPI reported,

Instead of making local ad buys, Mercedes will redirect advertising money to pay for nationwide TV spots.

“There is just so much TV advertising out there, and we have to tell our story in compelling ways,” Steve Cannon, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA, was quoted as saying.

Going national this way, then, they couldn’t merely spout gas mileage stats, or show cars going around curves shot in super-telephoto, they way manufacturers do normally in local co-op advertising.

They had to go epic. They had to do something that, to refrains of Teutonic glory, tells the viewer: Mercedes-Benz, beyond all, remains the world’s most timeless and classic marque; the silver star and gold standard of all automobiles. Unique. Untouched. Untouchable. Like I said, I don’t care about Benzes, but they sold me.