Hi, welcome to our new subsite, Us Weekly Jalopnik, where we provide you the latest in celebrity hookups and dustups in the automotive world. Today in scandals, is Fiat caught in the middle of a torrid love triangle involving new spokesperson Diddy and former spokesperson Jennifer Lopez?
We all remember when J.Lo made a bunch of commercials and videos for Fiat. It didn't go as well as expected but at least it helped Fiat permanently wedge itself in the minds of American drivers. Now, Fiat has moved on to two new celeb drivers: Diddy and Pharrell.
In a new spot that debuted on Billboard this morning and coming soon to a TV near you, two guys in the desert make their way to a 500L-filled oasis where Pharrell's "Happy" (a favorite among the Jalopnik staff) plays and Diddy offers them performance water as a relief. (And not Ciroc?)
However! Those of you old enough to remember when Diddy wasn't a punchline and Lopez wasn't an "American Idol" coach will instantly spot the awkwardness of this whole Fiat thing. Remember the heady days of the last decade when Lopez and Diddy — I think he had morphed from Puff Daddy to Sean "Puffy" Combs around this era — were the hottest item in Hollywood? With epic music videos like this and red carpet moments like this?
Lopez and Combs unfortunately parted ways after a shooting at a nightclub, but it's nice to know the memories of their romance live on in million-dollar advertising campaigns. Thanks, Fiat, for reminding us of the love that never was. Didn't we almost have it all?
And as for Fiat? They've locked up using "Happy" in marketing, which sucks for no one except their chief rival Mini. Maybe they heard that Mini was using the song all over the place when they invited hundreds of journalists to go to Puerto Rico to drive the Cooper and stuck it to them.