This Mercedes-Benz short film explores what your teenage self would think of your life
Campaign for the CLA Coupé includes the brand's first branded Instagram filter
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Buying a sporty car has always been thought of as the emblem of a mid-life crisis. But in a new global campaign by Mercedes-Benz, promoting its CLA Coupé, the epiphany comes when a jaded thirty-something guy meets a teenage version of himself.
The five-minute online film, created by Mercedes' lead European creative agency Antoni Garage, begins with the man discovering his 16-year-old self raiding his fridge one night. After a ride in his CLA Coupé—during which the teen is unimpressed by his older self listening to boring stock market reports instead of wild music—they go to his office, where again the younger version is horrified by his older self focusing so much on work and passing up an opportunity to go on a date with a colleague. Finally, the two manage to connect and have some fun together, and it concludes with the man seemingly inspired to take another look at his work-life balance. Meanwhile, his erstwhile date meets her own teenage self in the kitchen.
Shot in Miami, the film was directed by Francis Rousselet, who is known for his music video work with the likes of Kanye West and Madonna, via production company Anorak Berlin, and is set to the soundtrack of "Just Like Honey," by the Jesus and Mary Chain.
The tagline of the campaign is "Play by Your Rules" and Mercedes says it's about embracing your own individuality, tying in with the wider marketing message behind the CLA Coupé.
"The film speaks the language of a young, confident target group which is true to itself," says Bettina Fetzer, director marketing Mercedes-Benz Cars. "We are concentrating more on entertainment than classical advertising here. The film is bold and emotional, without taking itself too seriously."
As part of the campaign, Mercedes has introduced its first branded Instagram augmented reality filter; the #PlaybyYourRules filter has a neon look that reflects the film as well as the accompanying print campaign, which was shot in Tokyo by fashion photographer CG Watkins.
Credits
- Date
- May 10, 2019
- Client :
- Mercedes-Benz
- Agency :
- Antoni Garage
- Managing Director :
- Sven Dörrenbächer
- Managing Director :
- Matthias Schmidt
- Managing Director :
- Jörg Schultheis
- Executive Creative Director :
- Marcell Francke
- Executive Creative Director :
- Tilman Gossner
- Executive Creative Director :
- Veit Moeller
- Creative Director :
- Alice Bottaro
- Art Director :
- Caio Batista
- Copywriter :
- Andre Santa Cruz
- Creative Concept :
- Alice Bottaro
- Creative Concept :
- Andre Santa Cruz
- Creative Concept :
- Luca Rescheleit
- Client Service Director :
- Steffen Schumann
- Account Director :
- Robin Weintraut
- Account Management :
- Negin Ghanizadeh
- Head of TV :
- Geraldine Gramenz-Hohlbein
- Producer :
- Florian Zizmann
- Producer :
- Sebastiaan Peters
- Art Buying :
- Marjorie Jorrot
- Creative Director :
- Juliane Krause-Akelbein
- Creative Director :
- Ron Engelbert
- Creative Director :
- Alice Bottaro
- Creative Director :
- Pedro Americo
- Art Director :
- Daniel Righi
- Art Director :
- Antonio Afonso
- Creative :
- Johanna Jaskowska
- Creative Technologist :
- Bogdan Ferariu
- Account Director :
- Marica Pignatelli
- Account Management :
- Kevin-Paul Frahm
- Head of Global Campaigns & Product Content :
- Damir Maric
- Team Lead Campaign Development :
- Boris Helms
- Team Lead Product Content :
- Sandra Kulle
- Project Lead Campaign :
- Daniel Ritsch
- Project Lead Product Content, Instagram Filter :
- Daniel Dürbeck
- Production :
- ANORAK Film GmbH
- Director :
- Francois Rousselet
- Director of Photography :
- Benoit Debie
- Executive Producer :
- Christiane Dressler
- Producer :
- Yan Schoenefeld
- Editor :
- Amanda James
- Post Production :
- Slaughterhouse
- Music :
- C’Mon C’Mon
- Music :
- The Von Bondies
- Music :
- Just like honey
- Music :
- The Jesus & Mary Chain
- Photographer :
- CG Watkins
- Rendering and Post-Production :
- recom GmbH & Co. KG
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