They say inspiration can hit you from all sorts of angles, so today I’ve been slapped in the face by a Jaguar short courtesy of a Hollywood director who should have tried harder.  Last year, Derrick Borte -- the Joneses, anybody? -- was hired by Journey9 PR to help Jaguar Manchester celebrate the Coventry Cat’s 75th anniversary.

After watching the two-minute result below, I have quickly concluded that:
(i) this was a rather expensive exercise.
(ii) it clearly came from Derrick’s ‘I don’t want to, but feel obliged to’ wellspring of creativity.

A short film featuring the Jaguar E-Type amongst others could have been bracingly restorative for both car and brand.

Few cars command the same assertion as an E-Type, so there was no need for the sentiments to be so cheesy and explicit. But the most annoying thing about the short for me is the narrative -- how can two minutes of film be full of so much cloying, unctuous language?! Not cool.

As I’m typing, I’m acutely aware of how easy it is for me to sit here and criticise. So in a rather stupid move, I’ve decided to have a go at creating a short film of the Jaguar E-Type myself.

The E-Type is 50 this year, so that’s all the excuse I need. I don’t confess to having big budgets, well none actually, but I do have friends and enthusiasm. Time, I feel, to make a few phonecalls…

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