They say jealousy is the sincerest form of flattery. In marketing it’s the Holy Grail.

It’s one thing to make a consumer desire your product, but making consumers jealous of those who already own your product is an achievement few brands can claim. For example, I love Oreos, but I’ve never once seen someone else eating Oreos and thought to myself, “man, I wish I was that guy.” However, that’s exactly the feeling I had about Mercedes Benz owners on a recent night of the 2012 U.S. Open.

While sitting in line to pay my $20 to fight for a slab of concrete in the Citi Field parking lot, I noticed a trend. Attendees were picking what appeared to be random cars out of the lines and sending them through a special VIP entrance. I assumed they had special passes, but upon closer examination I began to realize that every car being selected was a Mercedes. New or old, diesel or unleaded – it didn’t matter. Every Mercedes Benz was hopping out of the “pedestrian” line and zipping its way into the parking lot.

Once I reached the ticket booth, a row of sandwich boards explained this phenomenon. Mercedes Benz, a title sponsor at the 2012 U.S. Open, had arranged for complimentary parking for every Mercedes Benz owner attending this and every other session of the 14-day tournament. Never in my life had I wanted to own a Mercedes so badly. Even more importantly, as I looked around at the lucky owners being ushered through the gates, you could see how much pride they had in being a Mercedes owner at that moment.

In our society, luxury cars are often one of the strongest identifiers of status and success. Many luxury car companies market their vehicles as a means to elevate yourself from the masses. In this instance, Mercedes Benz had literally separated their customers from the masses. It doesn’t get much better than that.