Mercedes is promoting the ‘Winter Event’ with a 30 second Christmas holiday television spot. Snow is falling in the forest. The music provides a sense of drama with a hint of sleigh bells. Headlights light up a reindeer browsing by the road. The camera cuts to a two lane convoy of silver Mercedes cars, followed by a red coupe driven by a laughing Santa. The text “Happy Holidays from Mercedes-Benz.” The voice: “Come to the Mercedes-Benz Winter Event now and see all the exciting new rides we have to offer. There’s sure to be something for every wish list.”
We’re given the American web site for Mercedes -Benz where we discover that the Winter Event is a seasonal campaign promoting special lease offers on select C, E, M, and R-Class models. The campaign runs through to January 3, 2006. Click on the image below to play the video in Vimeo (HD)
Credits
The ad was created by advertising agency Merkley & Partners by executive creative directors Andy Hirsh and Randy Saitta, associate creative director Chris Landi, agency producer Misha Louy and director of broadcast production Gary Grossman.
Filming was shot by Iceland directing duo Stefan Arni and Siggi Kinski (Arni & Kinski) at HSI. Arni and Kinski are known for their music videos for artists including Sigur Ros and Travis.
The ad was shot at Cross River, NY, in one autumn/fall day using car to car and helicopter shots.
Visual Effects were provided by RhinoxFX under the supervision of Vico Sarabani. RhinoFX changed the shot into a winter night, adding 34 layered elements, including snow on the trees, on the ground, falling on and around the cars. The snow is reflected on the cars, lit by their headlights and flies toward the camera because of the motion of the car. To provide a human feel to the shot RhinoxFX created a town in the distance representing Santa’s destination.
Audio Post was developed at Sound Lounge, NY. Sound design and mixing was provided by Marshall Grupp. Original music was by The Lodge.
I absolutely love this commercial. I have been trying to tell people about it and finally found information on it, AND the actual video, on this site. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
They need to win lots of awards with this one. It sends chills down my spine, and brings a tear to my eye, every time I see it. Even the ENGINES sound like MBZ engines. 🙂
i loved this commercial
when i saw it on the speed channel i was so siked for one sana has good taste in mercedes 2 i loved how they put them like a real santa sleigh and 3 the classes were in order from slr to g
Thank you for posting this advertisement. The reindeer is beautiful; the drive train is awesome.
A classic from Mercedes Benz.
Very American though
Yes it’s made in the USA for a USA market. Great to have two Icelanders producing the winter feel don’t you think?
Perhaps you just could not appreciate such a timeless piece.
Kudos to the brilliant Messrs. Arni and Kinski…….:)
No it isn’t, which proves that some never understand let alone appreciate the art.
I love this commercial, but I’d love to see a complete list of all the Mercedes cars in “Santa’s garage.” One of them appears to be some kind of “gullwing micro car” that I’ve never seen before.
The styling of this flat-front gullwing micro (judging from what little we can see of it, that is) looks like something out of the 1950’s or early 1960’s, but for the life of me I just can’t find any reference to it on the internet.
Can someone help me out here?
I can’t find anything on it either, and i have searched . You’d think that if it’s acurrent production model they’d promote a little better -TELL US WHAT IT IS!!!, some kind of ferrari /mercedes blend. and if not they need to re-introduce it because myself and enough people would buy it in numbers that would bury BMW for the next two years.
@mahon, @john
Would it have been an option to contact Mercedes-Benz with an
inquiry? Although the expression of the comments may NOT warrant a reply. Oh there! :))