In this edition of, "Erm, What?" It's a short video featuring Infiniti's "Director of Performance," F1 champ Sebastian Vettel; the Q50 Eau Rouge concept, and a narrator who gamely proves at least one copywriter shouldn't have had. That fourth margarita. At lunch.
At first blush, it's a typical automotive promo spot. Written. In clipped phrases. The platinum-throated narrator. Shares Nissan's performance-car ethos. Dramatically. Powerfully. Britishly. One disjointed image at a time. But a few seconds in, the cart is already off the rails.
It's even better when you read it out of context, while imagining Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen swapping lines:
Origins make us.
An idea that couldn't be built.
A body without an engine.
An engine without a driver.
Skill. Will. Courage. Sweat.
Destiny makes us.
LOL WUT?
Why couldn't the idea be built? What happened to the driver? Why was the engine all alone? Maybe it's designed to engage the viewer on a visceral level that sells Infiniti's new motorsports focus with evocative "power words." Perhaps it suggests Vettel's title isn't just some empty honorarium. Maybe it's an English translation of some copy that sounds far more graceful in Japanese. Either way, I've watched it 15 times and I still can't figure it out.
(The video's YouTube description is fun too.)