Proof that Germans are Weird

Photos courtesy of Daimler

As an automotive journalist I get all kinds of press releases and other things sent to me. Since I deal with companies spread around the world, that means the stuff is constantly pouring in at all hours, every day of the year. I have to ignore a fair amount of it, because it is an information dump. Every once in a while there's something just completely weird tucked in with new vehicle announcements, technological breakthroughs, and smiling PR photos. I received just such a thing recently from Daimler.

I love Germans. They have their quirks, and I can always tell when a press release was written by a German, but they are also fun-loving in their own way. Sure, they don't have the clever snark the Brits do, but they really know how to cut loose and have a good time, which can include some amazing kraut, bratwurst, and steins. But sometimes, they cut loose in ways that just leave me speechless. Case in point, this:

And this:

And let's not forget about this:

This was from a photo shoot for Smart. What you see is Father Christmas shopping at the Galeries Lafayette in Berlin using a Smart Brabus Electric Drive. I guess the sleigh was just too big and is contributing to increased carbon emissions, because reindeer fart and all. As you can clearly see, this is a modern example of Father Christmas and he's joined by a young lady dressed like an angel, of the Victoria's Secret variety. As my wife said "that's a cute dress, but the whole thing is weird."

I'm more impressed that they managed to cram that many packages in the car, because I know what the "cargo" area is like.

Obviously this was not geared at a United States market. Here, Daimler (the parent company of Smart and Mercedes-Benz) gives us a traditional Santa Claus signing off on cars being naughty and nice. Because that's normal: