AdWeek: Mercury Gets 'Lucky' on the Web

Automaker Mercury is trying to shed its old image of producing merely adequate cars for aging rustbelt pensioners, launching a video ad campaign titled "Meet the Lucky Ones" on the web that directly addresses this perception. The creative shows a washed out image of a depressing middle America family, with Mercury being a small bright point in an otherwise meaningless existence. It's the sort of creative that boutique shops have sold to Miller, Nike and many fashion brands, but that has seldom stuck around in categories trying to appeal to groups outside suburban hipsters. Wunderman Detroit created the campaign. It marks a radical change for stodgy Mercury, and may be a sign of things to come, as the Ford division reports it earmarked a quarter of its brand budget on web and customer events.