Can you judge a book by its cover? Well, maybe. I'm going to try.
This weekend I got a big package from Mercedes Benz NA. Hmmm... Why are they sending me this I thought. So I opened the cardboard box. And inside was another box, but first it was necessary to break through the plastic shrink wrap surrounding it. It would not render to my dexterous fingers without a serious fight.
Under the shrink wrap was a slipcased box. Also a very tight fit. Pulling it out caused a tear in the virgin black-flocked imitation velvet lined plastic box and a bit of styrofoam packing popped out. No worry, I got the rest of the box out in one piece. Emblazoned across the top in metallic writing were some words to the effect of "Introducing the 2007 Mercedes S Class".
From this point my troubles were few. The flimsy plastic opened without a hitch and I was confronted with a series of slightly larger than post card images of the latest Mercedes Flagship. On the back was some glowing prose, I think. I didn't really read it. I tossed it out. Sorry Mercedes. It doesn't look like a Mercedes any more. The cheesy packaging intended to tempt me to create a vision of my own self importance surrounded by plastic luxury just doesn't do it for me.
Maybe it was one too many lectures on deconstructivism in college, but your marketing which appears to be centered around choosing a car which implies a certain lifestyle just makes me laugh when behind the message is a mass of plastic and styrofoam. Gone is the focus on engineering and in its place is a world of things to buy which will show you are special, or at least will make you think you are special. Unfortunately, I know I'm not, so your marketing is wasted on me. Why not a postcard which says "come drive it here..."?
How can it be true that I'm happier driving a car that you built 19 years ago than with any of your current offerings?
