Mercedes has finally asked the question: What would happen if Mario stopped screwing around and brought a car to World 1-1? And it’s actually pretty funny.
This appears to be part of a larger campaign Mercedes is engaged in over in Japan, or possibly just their response to the real Mario Kart. For example, Mario will get his very own Mercedes kart in Mario Kart 8, the first time a real car has been featured in Nintendo’s karting series. And it also includes this ad, which brings Mario to life. And he’s been lifting, bro.
For a second, we were worried it was Ashton Kutcher under that gigantic nose. While not as horrifying as that CGI Goomba, that would still be emotionally scarring.
Admittedly, this is a little weird. Nintendo has never done anything to quite this scale or degree before. They’ve endorsed products and crossed over a few times, but this just isn’t something the company generally does. It might reflect a desire to make more money, or it could just be that Mercedes had a really compelling pitch.
We just hope this isn’t a prelude to a new live-action Mario movie. We really don’t need Mario Begins.