New Orleans Saints: Why Mercedes Benz Makeover Is a Complete Farce

The work begins today, they're going to erect a giant Mercedes Benz hood ornament up there on the top of the Superdome, in New Orleans where there are no streets like Bourbon and no quarters like the French Quarter.

Now you would think a city with that French-Creole-Cajun-Coon Ass sort of heritage would possibly be a bit miffed by the renaming of the Superdome to salute a company that is synonymous with luxury cars.

How does the Mercedes Benz Superdome sound? It will sound great for Mercedes when the 2013 Super Bowl rolls into town.

It would sound a lot better if Jean Lafitte had been a German pirate who helped Gen. Andy Jackson defeat the British in the Battle of New Orleans.

Maybe if it was the Germans who were defeated in 1815 in New Orleans, this could be viewed as a "makeup" call.

Nothing says rich, Louisiana heritage like Mercedes Benz.

Once the giant Mercedes hood ornament is in place on top of the Superdome, the next order of business will be to try and figure out a way to get that new car leather smell into the place.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

The real irony in this new sponsorship is the fact that Saints owner Tom Benson made a whole Superdome full of money in the automobile business but made even more investing profit in local banks and then selling the kit and kaboodle to Wells Fargo.

By the way, Benson owns Mercedes Benz dealerships in New Orleans and San Antonio.

Does this mean that Benson's celebration dances will feature an umbrella with a Mercedes Benz logo?

"The Superdome was an icon for how we (as a society) did things wrong but now is an icon for rebirth," is what Stephen Cannon tells us. He's the Vice President for Mercedes Benz US.

They hold a celebration for all of this on Oct. 23 on Monday Night Football when the Saints get to beat up on the hapless Colts.

You have to wonder if the Saints will replace the Fleur-de-Lis on their helmets with Mercedes Benz logos if the price is right.

That's cool, the New Orleans Benzers.

No one's talking about what Mercedes is paying for this latest branding measure. Don't want you getting sticker shock the way you would if you just happened to stroll into your local dealership and gander at the sticker price on a SL 63 AMG.

Now if Mercedes wants to get into the real spirit of this sponsorship, why don't they just go ahead and give away an SL 63 AMG to some lucky season ticket holder at every home game.

Yeah, that's the ticket. Now we're talking.

This Mercedes Benz thing could work quite nicely with that sort of "spirit" if you know what we mean.