Mercedes

By and large, I don't really mind Mercedes ads. I even like the one with all the photographs of proud Mercedes owners posing with their cars.

Recently, though, I was saddened and annoyed to note Mercedes' use of a Frank Sinatra classic, I've Got the World on a String to advertise some promotion or another they're holding. I love Sinatra, so on paper this wouldn't be bad at all. It's just that it's a cover -- not the original rendition.

Gone from the music is the triumph and satisfaction of being in love, which is the entire point of the song. Sung by a female vocalist, the song's tone of smug exultation has been replaced with that of lazy indifference. The singer's words ooze from the television speaker like clumps of putrid, apathetic mayonnaise. It's a gross disfigurement of a classic.

There is a lesson in all this. Even with dramatic amounts of cash, people will still produce crap given half a chance.

Surprise.