Mercedes-Benz is turning the page on Jon Hamm’s 15-year run as its brand voice, replacing the actor with Lucy Liu.
The actor’s voiceover debut comes in a campaign called “Moving Forward,” created by Merkley + Partners, which promotes the brand’s GLS SUV. The 35-second spot will air across linear TV, including BET, NBC, and TNT, as well as streaming and digital video, with two additional ads featuring Liu scheduled to run later this month.
“Mercedes-Benz doesn’t just define luxury, it continually reimagines it,” Liu shared in a statement. “To lend my voice to a brand with such a legacy of excellence and a bold vision for the future feels like a powerful alignment of values and creativity. This partnership reflects everything I value: innovation, intention, and impact. Together, we’re building a legacy of modern luxury that only Mercedes-Benz can deliver.”
The actress replaces Hamm, who has narrated the brand’s ads since 2010. Liu was chosen after Mercedes-Benz chief marketing officer (CMO) Melody Lee, and her team blindly listened to over 200 voices over several months.
“We didn’t know who they were, what their names were, [or] whether they were celebrities or not,” she exclusively told ADWEEK. “We just listened to voices with several criteria in mind as to whether or not it would help elevate the brand, sell the products, [and] reach new generations.”
New voice, new marketing era
Changing Mercedes-Benz’s brand voice was to “signal a new and fresh era for the brand,” said the exec.
Despite tariffs and economic uncertainty, the car manufacturer is currently focused on growing in the U.S. It has price-locked all of its 2025 vehicle models in response, and is maintaining all of its marketing investments for the year.
“It was really important to give our customers a sense of consistency in the market, whether they’re with us today or prospects for the future,” said Lee, adding that the brand may make adjustments as it continues to watch the market.
As part of its U.S. marketing playbook, Mercedes-Benz is making diversity a cornerstone of its creative process—both on screen and behind the scenes—to ensure its messaging resonates with multicultural Americans, a demographic that has grown by nearly 4 million since 2021, per insights firm Collage Group. The data firm also projects that this group will become the majority by 2050.
Liu’s appointment underscores this strategy, alongside initiatives such as Mercedes-Benz’s partnership with Black-owned golf brand Eastside Golf around The Masters and its dinner series “The Table,” which brought Black and Asian American executives and creatives together to foster community and conversation in Los Angeles and New York.
The automaker is also focused on diverse staffing and casting in its marketing across its creative output to reflect the customers it wants to reach.
“We need to reach current generations who are buying our products as much as we need to reach the next generations that are coming up,” Lee said. “We [want] to expose the brand to different communities, different voices, but not just expose, bring them to the table.”
By handing Liu the mic, Mercedes-Benz is doing more than refreshing its sound. It’s charting a path toward a more inclusive, culturally attuned vision of luxury and is designed to resonate far beyond the driver’s seat.