Born to be sold: Mobilizing the Coen brothers’ brand of independence and intertextual play for Mercedes in the referential economy

The article analyses the Coen brothers’ Mercedes-Benz commercial, Easy Driver , which pastiches the Hollywood Renaissance film Easy Rider , as a manifestation of a blurring of distinctions between the short film and short-form advertisements. Combining an analysis of the spot’s production and the text itself, the article explores how the commercial mobilizes the Coens’ branded reputation for intertextual play. In doing so, it frames Easy Driver as a product of a ‘referential economy’ that is symptomatic of a financialized Hollywood. As a result, the article pushes back against simple notions concerning art vs. commerce by considering the new meanings that the commercial generates, particularly in relation to the counterculture, race and gender, while arguing that the spot’s progressive potential is limited by commercial imperatives and neo-liberal logics favouring ideas of consumer choice over critical thought and social action.