Lucky Star is an advertisement commissioned by Mercedes-Benz in 2002 to promote their SL500 automobile. Created by advertising agency Campbell Doyle Dye, [1] it impersonated the form of a trailer for a purported thriller feature film titled Lucky Star. [2] [3] [4] Actors Benicio del Toro and Ana Cristina starred in the piece, which was directed by Michael Mann. [3] [5]
The 2½-minute presentation centres on Mr. H (del Toro), [1] whose success in gambling and on stock market trading attracts the attention of United States intelligence agencies, who are suspicious as to how he can be so consistently lucky. [2] They cannot find any evidence of illegal behaviour but nonetheless continue to hound their suspect, eventually forcing him to flee. [2] Pursued by the authorities, including a helicopter, through downtown Los Angeles, he makes a surprise getaway in his car [1] with his female companion Evilina (Cristina). [5]
The piece aired in cinemas and on television in the United Kingdom market, [1] starting in July 2002. [4] Participating cinemas aired it as part of the forthcoming-presentations block, after other advertisements, to further promote the illusion of a feature film; [2] [4] advertising rules only require clear transmission of an advertisement's nature in printed media. [2] A companion "official film" website was also commissioned. [3] The production cost for the entire campaign was estimated at GBP 5 million (then US$7.9 million). [4]
Director Michael Mann imagined the piece as if it were a complete motion picture, hiring a number of the production staff he worked with on previous films Heat and The Insider, [3] likening the finished product to the classic 1955 film noir Kiss Me Deadly. [3] Although he was uncredited for his work [2] (the billing credited "Mercedes Films" [6]), he received an undisclosed fee for his involvement [2] and retained the rights to make a real Lucky Star movie in the future. [1] [3] The "lucky star" ( German: Dreifach stern) is the name of the three-pointed star that makes up the Mercedes Benz logo. [5]
Media reaction to the premise of Lucky Star commented on its style of product placement as novel and subtle, [2] [4] drawing comparison with an earlier advertising campaign by BMW, [1] but also criticised Mann and Mercedes for utilising moviegoers' suspension of disbelief to promote their product. [2] [4]