When it came time for Mercedes Benz to promote its new fuel cell vehicle, the German auto manufacturer decided to use it as an opportunity to create an innovative and unique marketing sketch. Rather than simply display the car for the public to view, it decided to make it invisible. Ultimately an innovative driving technology needs an innovative way to promote it.
The decision to make the car ‘invisible’ emphasizes that its F-Cell vehicle has no exhaust emissions, making it virtually invisible to the environment. That’s pretty clever. This was achieved by placing a mat of LEDs across the entire one side of the vehicle and mounting a video shooting Canon 5D Mark II digital SLR camera on the other side.
Mercedes has said that its hydrogen-powered drive system is “ready for series production,” but other reports have its commercialization expected only in 2014. However, fuel-cell technology is still extremely expensive, partly because hydrogen is a difficult fuel to store and transport and the materials needed to create a viable fuel-cell are also very pricey.
As you can see from the video below, while people can still very obviously see the car passing by, they are clearly intrigued and impressed by its invisibility.
