How BMW Celebrated Retiring Mercedes-Benz CEO

Beyond brand rivalry, BMW pulled a creative spin on the news of Mercedes-Benz’s CEO Dieter Zetsche retiring. The automobile company unveiled a spot on YouTube dedicated to Zetshce’s exit from the company to the delight of customers of both brands across the world.

The video featured a lookalike comedian of Zetsche bidding farewell to his fellow colleagues on his last day at Mercedes-Benz office grounds and chauffeured home in a Mercedes-Benz car. Upon getting to his destination (home) and gesture of gratitude to the chauffeur, Zetsche is seen racing off in a BMW’s latest i8 Roadster model from the garage.

The 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.

The video has so far garnered over 2.62 million views and 28,762 likes and people on Twitter applauded BMW’s creativity.

Watch the video HERE.