Mercedes Benz Super Bowl commercial 2013

Award-winning ad man-cum-auto journalist Don Klein knows a good (or bad) car commercial when he sees one; the Ad Section is his space to tell you what he thinks of the latest spots. The ad’s rating is depicted via the shift pattern at the bottom, but everyone has an opinion when it comes to advertising, so hit Backfires below and tell us what you think, too.

About 10 years ago, Mercedes-Benz showed how not to introduce a down-market luxury car. That failed experiment was a strange little two-door called the C230 Kompressor. It featured cloth seats and a hatchback (although Mercedes never used that word in official communiqués). Depending on your point of view, it was either sporty or fugly, but it screamed cheap no matter how you looked at it, an image that didn’t sit well with traditional Mercedes owners.

A decade later, Mercedes wants to dip back into the low end of the pool, with good reason: A lot of cars sold in this country hover around the $30, 000 price point (including entry-luxury models like the Acura ILX, Audi A3, and BMW 1-series). Of course, none currently wear a three-pointed star. Enter the CLA-class. Looking more or less like a CLS after a very cold shower, this compact sedan is clearly a Mercedes. You won’t be able to buy one until this fall, but when you can, the car will have the standard equipment you might expect in a Benz (seven-speed dual-clutch auto, Bluetooth connectivity, a 5.8-inch infotainment display, and the mbrace2 suite of smartphone-integrated apps and services) and options you definitely expect in a Benz. The latter include a panorama-style sunroof, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, pre-collision braking, blind-spot monitoring, infotainment system upgrades, lane-keeping assist, and a parking-assist system that even some of the pricier Mercedes models don’t yet offer. Still, the CLA has that decidedly un-Mercedes $30, 825 base price—the $29, 990 number cited in the commercial doesn’t include destination and delivery—so how does the company tout that without tarnishing its upscale image? You make a commercial that blows everyone’s socks off.