It’s hard to imagine Nintendo as anything other than a gaming industry titan today, but rewind to 2014, and the picture was considerably less rosy for the creators of Mario. Just a year and a half after the Wii U’s debut, Nintendo was facing significant headwinds. Console sales were lagging, and game revenue wasn’t picking up the slack. In a candid earnings call in 2013, Nintendo signaled to investors a pivot towards exploring new licensing opportunities for their beloved characters. This strategic shift materialized in August 2014 with the launch of the Mercedes DLC pack for Mario Kart 8. This downloadable content introduced a trio of real-world Mercedes-Benz vehicles into the vibrant, cartoonish world of Mario Kart.
The Mercedes-Benz DLC was met with a lukewarm reception, to put it mildly, from Nintendo’s dedicated fanbase. Product placement in video games wasn’t a novel concept then, and it persists to this day – think of Monster Energy’s presence in Death Stranding or Cup Noodles in Final Fantasy 15. However, this particular partnership felt jarring and out of place. The whimsical Mushroom Kingdom had always maintained a certain purity, untouched by overt, reality-breaking branding. For many, Mario represented a piece of innocent childhood, and the Mercedes deal seemed to shatter that carefully crafted illusion, reeking of a purely financial, and somewhat desperate, decision. And in reality, that perception wasn’t far from the truth.
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Beyond the slightly awkward collision of Mario’s animated universe and real-world automobiles, the choice of luxury commuter vehicles felt particularly mismatched for the high-octane, shell-dodging action of Mario Kart. One could perhaps envision Donkey Kong tearing up the track in a rugged Jeep Wrangler, or Yoshi zipping through Rainbow Road in a sleek McLaren supercar. But a Mercedes GLA? It’s a compact SUV, a practical choice for suburban families, hardly the battle-ready machine one expects to see navigating Baby Park. While the pack also included classic Mercedes racing cars – a 1957 roadster and a Grand Prix racer – their inclusion, especially given the historical context of the Grand Prix racer and its association with Adolf Hitler, felt equally incongruous in the lighthearted world of Mario Kart.
Nintendo surely anticipated some level of fan skepticism regarding this collaboration. However, as the saying goes, desperate times call for innovative measures. Interestingly, this instance of brand partnership wasn’t driven by executive greed. It’s well-documented that Satoru Iwata, Nintendo’s then-CEO, took a significant pay cut at the start of 2014, demonstrating his commitment to the company’s well-being during its financial struggles. In the grand scheme of things, the Mercedes DLC was just a small add-on, a minor brand integration within a single installment of a kart racing franchise on one console. So, what’s the big deal? One might ask this question, were it not for the fact that Mario Kart 8 has evolved into one of the most commercially successful and enduring video games ever created.
The Mercedes partnership offers a valuable lesson in business integrity and unforeseen outcomes. Back in 2014, nobody could have predicted the remarkable resurgence of Mario Kart 8 on the Nintendo Switch. The Switch has since become the third best-selling console of all time, boasting over 122 million units sold. Furthermore, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has become the Switch’s top-selling title, surpassing 50 million copies and consistently outselling newer releases year after year. Even in 2023, titles like Tears of the Kingdom are facing an uphill battle to overtake Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s sales dominance. Decades later, the game continues to expand with new tracks and achieve even greater sales figures, and there, in the vehicle selection screen before every race, are the Mercedes-Benz cars. Whatever Mercedes-Benz paid Nintendo for this brand visibility, it undoubtedly pales in comparison to the long-term exposure they’ve received.
In retrospect, the initial outcry surrounding the Mercedes-Benz DLC has largely faded. A decade has passed, Mario Kart 8 remains the gold standard in kart racing, and players have, for the most part, accepted this once-contentious product placement deal, understanding the context of Nintendo’s financial situation at the time. Now, when scrolling through the kart selection, catching sight of Bowser crammed into the somewhat awkwardly placed Mercedes Benz vehicles, a mix of emotions arises. There’s a lingering sense of mild disappointment that Nintendo felt compelled to make such a deal, a reminder that even iconic brands face tough times. However, this feeling is often overshadowed by a considerable amount of respect for Nintendo’s incredible turnaround. The Mario Kart Mercedes DLC might have been a cringeworthy moment, but it serves as a quirky, enduring symbol of Nintendo’s journey from financial uncertainty to its current position as a dominant force in the gaming world.
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