‘Free at last’, BMW trolls Mercedes Benz, shows CEO driving rival company’s car i8 Roadstar on his retirement day. However, the video also thanked Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche for inspiring healthy competition.
Competition between brands and a friendly banter online isn’t uncommon. Recently, the trolling between two prominent car companies went to a whole new level when BMW hired an actor resembling Mercedes Benz CEO Dieter Zetsche to represent how after his farewell he picked a rival company’s car!
In a video going viral online released by BMW, the doppelganger of Zetsche is seen going about his last day as CEO of Mercedes Benz. The man is seen clicking selfies with numerous employees as he prepares to leave office. The video then shows him leaving the company in a Mercedes-Benz S-Class. However, on reaching home, the video shows the garage door opening and Zetsche driving a BMW i8 Roadster. And the ad’s punchline is “Free at last”.
The end of the video was also a beautiful tribute for Zetsche’s long contribution to the automobile world. “Thank you, Dieter Zetsche, for so many years of inspiring competition,” the message read.
Of course, Mercedes-Benz took this opportunity to reply. In a cheeky tweet, they not only had a great comeback but also did a little marketing by mentioning the company’s new electric brand that’s directly competing with BMW’s electric models. Parent company Daimler too joined the banter and thought Zetsche would have preferred a horse ride on his last day.
Zetsche’s been replaced by Ola Kallenius, and the company wrote on Twitter, it’s pretty difficult to fill in his shoes.
Netizens online loved the friendly competition and the video.
What did you think of BMW’s video? Let us know using the comments section.
So this is where Airtel Kenya picked up the crazy idea of half apple😂.. not even close.. anyways, the article is great. Quick question, should brands call on competition on social media? What’s your opinion
Hi Kevin,
We appreciate your sentiments…we are not convinced that Airtel picked that idea from BMW. Brands can “call each other” on social media as long as it’s not intended for lowering brand equity of the company in question. Agencies have to be careful if they choose to use this as a marketing strategy.
Do you know any other brands that have used this tactic?