Born to Be Sold: Mobilizing the Coen Brothers’ brand of independence and intertextual play for Mercedes

This journal article analyses Born to Be Wild, a commercial made for Mercedes and directed by the Coen brothers, that was released online before a shorter version was screened at the 2017 Super Bowl. Considering that distinctions between short films and commercials are blurred, the article explores how Mercedes's creative agencies made Born to Be Wild appear to be like a short film instead of a commercial spot by analysing its production. The final section of the article then conducts a textual analysis of the commercial as a way of exploring how its pastiche of the feature film Easy Rider is both a manifestation of the Coens' tendencies for being pasticheurs and of a wider 'referential economy'. Doing so, the article considers to what extent Born to Be Wild is a creative work that critiques mainstream 1960s representations of the counterculture or is a manifestation of neoliberal logics favouring consumption over critical thought and action.