Over-the-top Mercedes campaign over the head of the NAD

I was just reading today's Adweek.com, and it seems that the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) just didn't get the over-the-top metaphors of the new Mercedes-Benz (MB) campaign from Merkley + Partners (M+P).

In one spot, a crash sled slams into the side of a new Mercedes GL class SUV and bounces off. The NAD ruled that "a typical consumer might not grasp that the crash is metaphorical." Mercedes even had the appropriate full-disclosure legal tag in the spot, but that wasn't enough for the NAD.

All I can say is: are you kidding me? Anyone in their right mind would know that this is a humorous, over-the-top metaphor.

But maybe that's the problem. Maybe, the NAD thinks that the "typical" consumer is not in his/her right mind. But that's another topic for another post.

I'm just concerned with the NAD's ruling on the issue of using metaphors in advertising.

If the NAD continues its "crusade" against metaphors, what's next? Similes? Allegories? Parables? Or, goodness no, Fairy Tales?

Are we doomed to a life of straight product demos and on-the-nose spokespeople?

What do you think?