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ANTELOPE ISLAND STATE PARK, Utah (AP) — It's not very often one sees a brand new Mercedes-Benz cruisin' Antelope Island State Park.
But on Tuesday, it may have appeared as if the German manufactured luxury cars were everywhere on the island, when in fact it was the same vehicle being moved from location to location as part of an ad being shot for Mercedes-Benz.
"Maybe they're coming out with a state park ranger model," Antelope Island State Park Manager Jeremy Shaw jokingly said of the visitors.
The car company about a month ago requested if it could use the island as a backdrop for some of its print ads, according to officials.
Part of those arrangements apparently included "a closed set" to the public. A Standard-Examiner photographer was shooed away from the scene by a producer who identified himself only as "Dave" and angrily demanded to know how the newspaper found out about the production.
Where one of the island locations Mercedes-Benz wanted to use involved the causeway, the public access route to the island, Davis County officials had to be notified that island visitation traffic could be impacted, Shaw said.
On Tuesday, the Davis County Commission also approved a contract between Mercedes-Benz and the Davis County Sheriff's Office for deputies to provide security for the shoot at the car company's expense.
Because of the extended hours Mercedes-Benz wanted to be able to shoot on the island, from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., four sheriff deputies were hired to work security, allowing the deputies to work in rotating shifts of two, Sheriff's Chief Deputy Kevin Fielding said.
"It's neat. We do these pretty routinely," Shaw said of the island serving as a backdrop. "It showcases the island. The scenery here is something you can't find anywhere else in the world.
"This is the first time we have had Mercedes Benz out here," Shaw said.
But over the years other companies using the island as a backdrop for a marketing campaigns have included Harley-Davidson and National Geographic.
The island causeway over the Great Salt Lake offers visual artists a long, straight road over water, allowing the company to be able to more fully display the product they are marketing, Fielding said.
"They must look at it as a totally neutral background," he said. "Where do you go for a blank canvas for a car?"
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Information from: Standard-Examiner, http://www.standard.net
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