So I was reading about the Ukrainian dude who got assassinated and the article mentioned he was about to get into his car, a black Mercedes-Benz.
You never read about anyone calling the police with their blue iPhone.
Or a description of a suspect wearing a red banana republic t-shirt.
Or that a young man was stabbed with a green santoku knife from Victorinox.
It’s like free advertising.
it seems to be the first element of an identification
most brands are recognizable for many people (designs were even more brand specific in the past)
while a red T-shirt is a red T-shirt, a red Mercedes isn’t a red Renault
I mean yes if we’re actively looking for a suspect in a red Renault Clio. But in this case the dude is dead, whether his car is a Mercedes or a BMW is a ridiculously useless piece of information for an article to give.
I don’t feel the cars brand is always mentioned, but definitely more then other products like brand of jeans a thief wore or operating system a scammer used. I’m inclined to say low-effort news outlets would be more likely to fill their article with any information as long as it ends up as a decent length article, but might be a false assumption.