♔ ‘Nothing unites car journalists like a marketing department handing them comedy material on a silver platter.’
Turning Owners Into Mechanics Since 1947. Land Rover
Once the preserve of tweed-clad gents cresting Scottish hills, now the Land Rover set spend weekends decoding dashboard hieroglyphics on WhatsApp.
Still the ultimate adventure machine, of course — it’s just that the opening chapter often involves an AA patrolman named Barry, a flatbed, and the rueful exchange: ‘Yes, it’s a Vogue. Yes, again.’
For more bloomers….
(Read On…..)
1947 – Green Wellies and Spanners
Conceived in an age of ration books, the first Land Rovers could survive both the Serengeti and Somerset.
Owners fixed them with a hammer, baler twine, and the occasional curse.
1989 – The Ferrari That Ruffled the Palace
Ferrari gifts Princess Diana a Mondial t Cabriolet. Society’s eyebrows ascend. ‘Why not a Jag?’ murmurs Belgravia over its champagne flutes.
1990 – Lexus and the Sin of Hubris
‘Relentless perfection,’ they declared. Imperfections duly hunted down by gleeful journalists, like grouse on the Twelfth.
2001 – BMW Mini’s Awkward Charm
‘You are Not Normal’ splashed across posters. Some took it as cheek, others as an insult. BMW discreetly reached for the Tipp-Ex.
2007 – Aston Rapide’s Linguistic Ambush
In Spanish, its name sidled uncomfortably close to a criminal offence. Brochures suddenly scarce.
2013–2022 – Prestige Foot-in-Mouth
Maserati spent millions hiding its car in a Super Bowl ad, Mercedes angered China with a Tibetan quote, Audi Spain’s RS4 photo ignited outrage, and Bentley’s ‘diverse’ all-male board photo proved that.
◼︎ In PR as in motoring, the bigger the badge, the louder the clang.
♔ ‘Marketing’s golden rule: never release an ad that needs a translator, a lawyer, and a crisis-management firm on speed dial.’
