Mercedes-Benz Hosts ‘Tough Conversations’ with Punk Icon Henry Rollins
Former Black Flag singer hits the road down under in a Mercedes for some tough talk.
Henry Rollins has teamed up with Mercedes-Benz Vans Australia & New Zealand for a new project about toughness. This productive collaboration will include the upcoming documentary, “Tough Conversations,” as well as a podcast series, radio partnership, social media, and online content. Rollins and Mercedes-Benz will question and examine what toughness is, and how that definition is an ever-evolving and often surprising concept.
Rollins is a multi-hyphenate who defies labels, but let’s try anyway. He’s is punk icon, writer, actor, former Black Flag front man, activist, radio host, and more. Rollins has always been brilliant and honest in observing, exploring, and ultimately disrupting the status quo in people, politics, society, and himself. In other words, he is he perfect man to take on such an endeavor.
In the new series, he hits the road, as Rollins says “interviewing Australians from all walks of life to challenge the idea of what makes someone or something tough.” Traveling in a Mercedes-Benz, he talks with scores of people across the continent. Rollins seeks to go beyond that to explore the many layers and nuances that “tough” embodies. And how “tough” relates not just as an abstract concept, but as a truth in people, and in what they drive.
In our industry we hear and use the word “tough” a lot. Cars and trucks are considered tough to convey their strength and durability. But in the documentary Rollins discovers that tough means many different things to many different people. Tough is honor. Resilience. Resolve. Aggression. Honesty. Acceptance. Connection. Vulnerability. Inspiration.
According to The Drum, Diane Tarr, chief executive and managing director of Mercedes-Benz Vans Australia & New Zealand, said, “To launch the X-Class in a mature ute market like Australia, we knew we needed to do something different to get Australians to understand that the X-Class stands for something more than the stereotypical toughness.”
This is an exciting project for Mercedes-Benz, and definitely one that we will be following.
The program will air on ONE in Australia on April 18 at 9:30 p.m. and will be available to stream from TenPlay the same day.
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