(08 Mar 2018, 9:32 pm)mb134 wrote When they first appeared on the scene, and bear in mind I was only about 10 at the time so my memory is a bit hazy, I seem to recall there was a big push into the fact that these were Mercedes, both for driver recruitment and service advertisement. I don't remember any similar publicity when they were cascaded. 

Mercedes to the general public screams premium quality and reliability.

For example, at the time, Arriva Northumbria were still operating a strong fleet of Scania single decks. We know that they were ridiculously good vehicles, yet if you offered the 'average' customer a ride home in a Merc or a Scania, there'd only ever be one winner.

The marketing comments are interesting.
I can't remember anything too specific, other than the Washington examples having a tagline on the rear of the vehicles about 'using the Merc to work' (or something similar).

I can't remember any marketing (on-board or off) with the Deptford examples.
It was almost as if the Silver Arrow was less important than its red cousins.
Ditto the 35, that seemed to push its cross-city connections more than it did the actual quality of the vehicle.