I'm trying to track down a tv commercial featured Hermes
(or Mercury) with his winged hat and winged sandals racing against a
cannonball that had just been shot out of a cannon, when suddenly some
fancy, fast, new automobile speeds up from behind and past, winning
the race.  The commercial was in black-and-white or sepia. Can you
find what product was being advertised?

Hi Mythingmaggie!


The commercial you have in mind is the Mercedes-Benz ?performance? commercial.

Below you will find online references in order to verify that it is
the correct commercial.


?Mercedes-Benz has been running a wonderfully bizarre ad campaign,
with each ad illustrating a quality associated with Mercedes: A 
surrealistic race between Hermes and a cannonball is interrupted by 
a passing Mercedes (Performance)?

The Lipsig Letter -- Issue #19
http://members.tripod.com/lipsig/chuck/ll/ll0019.html


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From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:


?Mercedes-Benz used to think it was enough to soberly promote its
luxury cars' safety, reliability and performance. Its advertising,
like its products, was understated, conservative.?

?The German automaker has kicked off its most extensive new-model
launch in the United States with an ad campaign that includes crooning
coyotes, a rubber ducky and a Greek god racing a cannonball.?

(..)

?The only ad without a beat has Mercury, the god of speed, racing a
fired cannonball as a woman effortlessly overtakes them in a Mercedes
SL. The commercial ends with the word, "performance."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
http://www.jsonline.com/wheels/auto/0221mercedes.html


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Here is a detailed description of the Mercedes-Benz ?performance? commercial:

?Mercedes Benz recently came out with a series of commercials whose
subject are a set of key aspects of Mercedes vehicles on of those is
"performance" the performance commercial takes place in ancient times
(looks like Rome) the environment is this coliseum-like place where
everything has a tan-colored tint a cannonball is fired from a cannon,
and a runner wearing limited clothing races after the cannonball and
outside of the coliseum. he is outside, in a desert-like area, and has
just about caught up to the ball, when 2 vacationers race buy in a
Mercedes convertible and pass him and the cannonball he looks at the
car, stops running, and the cannonball drops immediately to the
ground. Then in the corner of the screen, it says "performance"

Google Newsgroup
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=Mercedes-Benz+Performance++commercial+cannonball&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&c2coff=1&safe=off&selm=70kto2%24uht%241%40nnrp1.dejanews.com&rnum=1

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Search Criteria: 
Hermes cannonball automobile commercial
Mercury cannonball automobile commercial 
Mercedes-Benz  ad campaign cannonball
Mercedes-Benz 'Performance' commercial


I hope you find this helpful!  


Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga

Great Answer in a timely manner - I did everying I could to find this
using google..I need to take some search lessons from you!