Shimajiro Tesla — Model S Redone In Image Of Popular Japanese Mascot
You may be looking at the video right now and wondering: “What the hell did they do to that Model S” — and that’s a fair question. I won’t say that I’m personally perturbed, but…
I guess that this is something like if an American or European was to take a Model S and retrofit it to resemble a teletubby, just the Japanese version of that act — strange to take such a high-end luxury car for the base of such an entity, though. Perhaps I’m wrong, but it seems a bit like taking a Rembrandt and putting some smiley faces on it. Anyways… I suppose that the kids probably like it.
Those wondering what exactly the Shimajiro Tesla paint job is intended to evoke will be interested to know that it’s a “tiger” from a popular Japanese preschool educational program — and that the car was created/redone by the program’s parent publishing company Benesse. The name of the program is romanized as “Shima Shima Tora no Shimajirō” (“Striped Island Tiger Shimajiro”).
I guess that using an electric vehicle (EV) for a car that’ll be used to attract and excite children makes sense, as they won’t be breathing in car exhaust this way — but I am a bit amused that out of the few Model S’s to make it to Japan so far, this is what one was used for. After all, the country is the home of the Nissan LEAF — which really seems as though it would have been a more economical choice in this case. Hmm…
Given that Tesla Model s sales haven’t been quite what Elon Musk was expecting in China, perhaps someone should send this to him. Cheer him up a bit. Lmao. I’m trying to imagine him having a laugh about this, but not seeing it. He does seem a bit overworked these days, doesn’t he? Perhaps he’d force a smile, but I’m not sure that he would get a real laugh. Perhaps once the Model X is finally released?
Tip of the hat to YouTube user “BusanKevin” for taking the video and uploading it.
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