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The Coen brothers directed a Super Bowl ad for Mercedes-Benz

It pays tribute to Easy Rider

Christopher Hooton
Friday 27 January 2017 13:19 GMT
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Following in the footsteps of Wes Anderson (Grand Budapest Hotel) for H&M, Spike Jonze (Her) for Kenzo and Asif Kapadia (Amy) for Burberry, Joel and Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowski) have shot a cinematic commercial for a brand.

The auteur brothers teamed up with Mercedes for the car company’s upcoming Super Bowl ad, which serves as a tribute to Dennis Hopper’s classic 1969 film, Easy Rider.

It centres on a raucous group of bikers hanging in a dive bar who find their Harleys have been blocked in by a car, they can’t be mad about it though when they realise it’s a beautiful Merced…you get the idea - it’s not exactly the Coens’ biggest creative achievement, but is still shot nicely and even features a little cameo from Easy Rider’s star Peter Fonda.

"Peter Fonda plays a critical piece of the storyline, and he's known as someone who still epitomizes what it is to love driving performance and the open road,” said Drew Slaven, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA.

A 30-second version of the ad will air during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LI, the half-time performance for which will come from Lady Gaga.

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