Mercedes makes Rooney its £1m face
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For a brand that prides itself on its exclusive, upmarket image, he was not, perhaps, the obvious choice for a new public ‘face’.
But despite his unequivocally down-to-earth attributes, luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz has decided to sign a £1million contract making Wayne Rooney its new ambassador.
The 22-year-old footballer sealed a two-year deal with the German car maker last week and has already taken delivery of a brand new customised Mercedes Benz CL63 Coupé worth £121,200.
The deal means the Manchester United star’s new wife Coleen will be left to drive the rest of his fleet of luxury cars – as the contract stipulates Rooney must drive only Mercedes to matches and most training sessions.
Some marketing experts last night questioned the new signing, suggesting the firm could lose out from ‘chavving down’.
Brand analyst Peter York called it ‘extremely strange’.
He said: ‘Ordinarily you’d expect Mercedes to choose someone aspirational and classy to advertise its cars, and it’s fair to say Wayne Rooney doesn’t fit that category.
‘It’s extremely strange. You have to ask who chose him? Was it someone who has misunderstood his image or was it perhaps a calculated move to ensure people talked about it?
‘It’s possible it will backfire and put off traditional Mercedes customers – but perhaps their choice of Rooney reflects the fact that the kind of people prepared to spend a fortune on a smart car nowadays are not particularly smart people.’
Rooney will have all the brand’s top-of-the-range models at his disposal, as well as use of a chauffeur-driven Mercedes to take him to any public engagements he attends.
He took delivery of his black leather-upholstered eight-cylinder Coupé on Friday night and took it for its first spin around Manchester yesterday.
The car, which has a 6.2-litre engine, a top speed of 155mph and can hit 60mph in 4.5 seconds, was described by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson as ‘deadly’.
Fellow footballer Rio Ferdinand and singer Jay Kay drive the same model and guitarist and singer Eric Clapton has one on order.
Rooney’s car has a fridge behind the rear arm rest and front seats with massage function, radar-assisted cruise control, a night view camera and a ‘keyless go’ function.
The £100,000-a-week footballer drove a BMW 5 Series until recently and has at least three other supercars – a £137,000 Bentley Continental GT, a £136,450 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder and a £177,000 Aston Martin.
His fleet has also included a Range Rover Sport, an Audi A8 Quattro, a Cadillac Escalade, a Porsche 911 and a Mercedes G55 AMG.
A source said: ‘Wayne is chuffed to bits with his new car. He is a car lover and has a beautiful collection of cars. Now Coleen will have to drive them, or he’ll have to make do with driving them off-road as he is only allowed to drive Mercedes to most events.
‘Wayne’s a big fan of Mercedes and he bought Coleen an SLK 280 for her birthday two years ago.’
A source at Mercedes said: ‘We very much wanted Wayne to be the face of the brand. Mercedes will set Wayne up as an icon with their cars. There is an option in the contract for him to feature in some adverts.’
It is the latest in a string of sponsor deals for Rooney, expected to earn £100million by the time he hits 30.
Rooney’s spokesman said: ‘I can confirm Wayne has just completed an initial two-year deal with Mercedes.’
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they buy cars like buying sweets...
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and change wife like clothes? hope not for this case...
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Why him??
Perhaps just for the fame..He isnt good looking at all..
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if he's well-liked in england, maybe that could help mercedes? Or maybe his endorsement fee lower?
but he got quite a good car in that CL63, wow!
get paid to drive, who wouldn't want that?
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roonedes
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Ze chavmobile!!
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rooney is more of a range rover kind of guy...lampard would suit benz better, given his new hefty pay rise
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Originally posted by dukedracula:
rooney is more of a range rover kind of guy...lampard would suit benz better, given his new hefty pay rise
X2
rooney should do ads for things like jeep
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wha lau.. save up for 2 weeks can buy 1 lambo liao... still got change somemore!
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walao cannot drive his lambo.. so sad sia...