After VW And Audi, Mercedes Updates Logo To Promote Social Distancing

The world is taking unprecedented measures to minimize the spread of the coronavirus and to reduce the number of infected people. One of the World Health Organization's most powerful tools in this battle is the so-called social distancing, which has been applied to a different level around the world. In the United States, this means people should avoid groups of 10 or more people, avoid discretionary travel, and consider canceling all social visits in homes. The original federal guidelines have been extended to April 30.

Many companies, including some automakers, have been very supportive of the social distancing. Volkswagen and Audi released emotional videos promoting the measure earlier this month, and now Mercedes-Benz is joining them with a similar move. The Stuttgart-based premium manufacturer has uploaded a revised version of its logo on its official global Facebook channel.

Similar to what the other two German brands did, Mercedes is putting some additional space between the famed three-pointed star and the ring that surrounds it. Since the release of the new logo some 18 hours ago, the emblem has gathered no less than 140,000 reactions on Facebook and close to 3,000 comments by users.

"If we do things together well, almost perfectly, we could get in the range of 100,000 to 200,000 fatalities," Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator, said in NBC's Today show Monday. "We don't even want to see that," she continued, adding that worst-case scenarios show "between 1.6 million and 2.2 million deaths if you do nothing."

So, are you doing your part? Mercedes is, and so are we.