With the Internet, customers are faced with an unprecedented number of choices and can compare products to find the lowest price. Unlike visiting the local dealership, people shopping online aren?t stuck with just one option. With online retailers like Amazon offering low prices and free delivery, car dealerships struggle to compete. And OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) brands are fighting hard to bring customers back. For example, Mercedes-Benz joined forces with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) to prove that cheaper replacement wheels are dangerous.
Mercedes-Benz representatives, along with the FCAI, orchestrated and filmed a road experiment to highlight the dangers of not buying factory parts. The video ultimately concludes that cheaper alternatives to Mercedes-Benz parts are downright dangerous. The test driver runs over a pothole on an unidentified aftermarket wheel – the wheel is styled to look like a genuine Mercedes-Benz wheel and is referred to by the company representative as a “fake.” The next scene crystallizes the ominous warning.
The camera captures the unidentified wheel shattering in slow motion as it runs over a pothole. The scene is played back repeatedly as the company representative narrates over it. Then, tasked with the same feat, the genuine Mercedes-Benz wheel drives over the pothole unscathed. The segment again highlights the dangers of not buying parts built by Mercedes Benz.

Although this test seemed mo...