BMW posts farewell video for retiring Mercedes-Benz CEO

Amidst the news of Mercedes-Benz’s CEO Dieter Zetsche retiring, direct competitor BMW has unveiled a spot on YouTube dedicated to Zetshce’s exit from the company. The creatively spun spot features a lookalike of Zetsche returning his company ID, bidding farewell to his fellow colleagues on his last day at Mercedes-Benz office grounds and is chauffeured home in a Mercedes-Benz car as well. On his way back, he is seen passing a building with the Mercedes-Benz logo while pulling into the driveway of his home.Upon reaching home and thanking the chauffeur for the ride, Zetsche is seen racing off in a BMW’s latest i8 Roadster model from the garage. The spot is titled, “Retirement is about exploring your wide open future”, and has garnered over 1.6 million views in a span of two days.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rx7-ec0p0AThe spot ends off by saying, “Thank you, Dieter Zetsche, for so many years of inspiring competition.” Zetsche has held the role as head of Mercedes-Benz since 2006.BMW uploaded the video on Twitter as well and captioned it, “Retirement is when you can leave your past behind and embrace your future.” Mercedes-Benz responded to it saying, “Thanks @BMW for the kind suggestion – but we’re 100% sure he already decided to #switchtoEQ ?”, displaying some friendly competition between the luxury brands.https://twitter.com/MercedesBenz/status/1131177844502081536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1131177844502081536&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketing-interactive.com%2Fbmw-posts-farewell-video-for-retiring-mercedes-benz-ceo%2FBoth Mercedes-Benz and BMW have poked fun at each other in other occasions as well. Back in 2016, Mercedes-Benz had put up an ad on the newspaper. As seen on Reddit, the ad displayed the rims of a BMW car accompanied by Mercedes’ logo at the corner. The ad read, “Thanks for 100 years of competition. The previous 30 years were somewhat dull.”In recent news, Daimler AG, parent company of Mercedes-Benz, appointed Omnicom Media Group for global media duties. The account was reported to be worth approximately between US$600 million and US$950 million, according to multiple sources. The appointment covers more than 40 markets worldwide and all Daimler divisions.