‘Mercedes mea culpa, maybe’

    
Merkley and Partners, the Manhattan-headquartered ad agency that gave us the Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl commercial, has issued a perfunctory apology on its Facebook page.

We apologize to anyone offended by the use of the ring worn in our commercial, “Soul,” that ran during the Super Bowl. It was not our intention to make any association with the Freemasons or any organization. In fact, neither we nor our client, Mercedes-Benz USA, were aware that the ring could be associated with the Freemasons. To avoid any confusion going forward, we will modify the commercial prior to any future television airings.

The full-length cut of the commercial, with shots of the famous ring, remains posted on the agency’s blog however.