Although football fans are looking forward to see the match between the Falcons and the Patriots, there is whole different category of viewers — those who are looking forward with excitement to watching the Super Bowl commercials. With less than a week until the Big Game, advertisers and companies have already announced some teasers of the ads or released full-commercials revealing what they plan to air during the 51st Super Bowl game pauses.
As some of popular car brands — like Kia, Ford, and Lexus — have already unveiled some of their adverts for this year’s major sports event, the luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz returns to the Game to show a remarkable piece of nostalgia by heavyweight duo of directors and a legendary screen star.
To put the spotlight on their Mercedes-AMG GT Roadster, the car manufacturer knew exactly what to do and teamed up with Oscar-winning duo ‘The Coen Brothers’, Joel and Ethan — who are known for film classics such as Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998) or No Country for Old Men (2007) — and famous American actor Peter Fonda.
The commercial is actually named after the successful movie Easy Rider (1969) which was produced and written by Fonda, and tells the journey of two bikers after they hit the jackpot by selling a huge amount of a white-powder drug. Added to the Library of Congress National Registry in 1998, this movie marked a new Hollywood era by bringing out the social issues encountered during the 1960s in the United States, depicting the typical drug abusing lifestyle at the peak of the hippie movement.
Though it is already available online, “Easy Rider” (the commercial) will air in the fourth quarter of the game. Following the tagline “Built to be wild“, the epic video describes a scene where a bunch of bikers enjoy their usual moments in a bar off the famous U.S. Route 66, where the hit “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf – funnily the only song on the jukebox — can be heard in the background.
To break the common turmoil of the bar, one of the bikers enters and announces that the gang was “blocked in.” Understandably, the bearded, leather-laden group get mad and go outside to see who had the gall to do this. The bikers’ anger folds, as they found out that the star of Easy Rider movie Peter Fonda himself was the one who obstructed their path — with a brand new Mercedes AMG GT Roadster. The mini-video ends as the famous actor drives away flashing the audience with a peace sign.
“Times have changed, and not just for Peter Fonda. ‘Easy Driver’ aims to show that that intensive feeling of freedom is absolutely compatible with our GT Roadster, without losing any of the fascination of those earlier days,” the Mercedes-Benz Marketing Vice President, Dr. Jens Thiemer said about the video that marks Mercedes-AMG’s 50th anniversary.
Credits:
Directors: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen