This piece is not an ad, it is a film that has the brand at the heart of the story. The product is a secondary but crucial character in the film. It is a coming-of-age, human story full of drama, suspense, culminating in one man's triumph over forces beyond his control.

We were briefed to promote the technological masterpiece that is the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The target audience was top end business people, predominantly male, however with such limited units of the S-Class available to purchase, this piece would ultimately end up doing more of a brand than a sales job.

We revisited a very special story from Mercedes-Benz’ advertising history. In 1988, Mercedes created an iconic ad featuring Mr. Christopher White, the man who plunged over 100 meters over the side of Chapman’s Peak Drive in his E180 Mercedes and lived to tell the tale. The target audience was top end business people, predominantly male, however with such limited units of the S-Class available to purchase, this piece would ultimately end up doing more of a brand than a sales job. We found Chris, alive and well in East London and invited him back to tell his story. What Chris didn't know until moments before climbing behind the wheel was that this time the car would be driving him along the treacherous stretch of road, autonomously.

The original Chapman's Peak spot from the early 90's was a benchmark in South African advertising, winning the country it's first ever Gold Lion at Cannes. It was a product demonstration that highlighted the safety available in a Mercedes of the time. 30 years later, the technology available in Mercedes-Benz' of today are leaps and bounds ahead of their antiquated counterparts. This idea gave us a chance to salute our heritage and then build on it in a way that leaves the viewer wondering if Chris might have ever had his accident in the first place, were he in the latest S-Class.

The full length film first aired online on the 29th of May 2018 on Mercedes-Benz South Africa’s social channels, then as 3 separate segments during Prime Time lifestyle shows the following week and for the month of June in Cinemas. We created the 5 1/2 minute documentary film using archival footage and photographs, interviews with those involved in the original story, drone footage of the treacherous road and in-car camera rigs to capture Chris' real reactions to everything that happened during his harrowing journey. Within hours of the film going live, it was picked up by numerous local and international news sites and became a news story in its own right.

In the first 24hrs, we featured on over 60 local and international news sites, reaching over 10,5 million and generating in excess of R15m in earned media. The spot had an unprecedented view through rate of 75% and over 2M unique video views, making it Mercedes-Benz SA’s top performing social post ever. The whole country was talking, with news stations hosting heated debates on driverless car technology. It became something truly newsworthy with the brand at the heart of it.