I clicked a link (courtesy of @traceymgoodson) to catch the latest news from the Toyota saga, and a Flash-based ad managed to break through the blinders developed over a decade-and-change. A narrow panel showed a night-time road out of which a Mercedes Benz bore down on the peripheral vision. The overall impression was that one was about to be run over a second hence.
Yes, I understand the concept of guerrilla marketing. The subtler end of its spectrum ambushes the sense of humor; the more extreme end goes straight for the lizard brain. Thus a men's room stall is co-opted to shill a crime show and a gruesomely life-like poster at the bottom of a swimming pool shocks parents into a heightened awareness of their children's whereabouts.
But the medium has to coincide with the message, and somehow, I don't think that Mercedes Benz want my visceral reaction to their 2010 E-Class series to be the impulse to dodge to the side. Marketing #FAIL.
