There might be far better ways to showcase the Land Rover Discovery Sport than this but it’s cool nonetheless

I’m one of those people who loves a good promotional video when I see one. I embrace them, take my time watching them, and in some cases, watch them repeatedly. It’s safe to say, though, that Land Rover’s new promotional ad for the Discovery Sport isn’t going to be one of those times. I do get the urge to create and develop one, so I’m not going to criticize Land Rover for the thought and purpose of the ad itself. The content of the video, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired.

First, let’s set up. The ad is basically a promotional stunt for the Discovery Sport, which took to an underground snow tunnel in Finland to compete against a Finnish mid-distance dog sled champion Laura Kääriäinen and her team of six beautiful huskies. The objective, it seems, is to have the Discovery Sport, with JLR principal engineer Karl Richards driving it, race against Kääriäinen in the snow-covered tunnel. The usual song-and-dance number of whoever crosses the finish line first wins it. Great, right? It probably would’ve been if the whole execution of the video made it feel completely fabricated from start to finish.

Sure, certain elements of it looked cool, including seeing the Discovery Sport putting in some good power slides on the snow. The huskies were cool too, as were the visuals. But, if Land Rover really wanted to make it a more compelling race, it probably shouldn’t have resorted to using a dog sled champion to do it and then hiding behind what I will admit is a catchy “horsepower vs dog power” tag line. Catchiness aside, it’s also unrealistic to think that a 286-horsepower SUV can lose to a dog sled team, “obstacles” notwithstanding. And, the Discovery Sport only won the race by "a nose?"

Really?