Never mind reading it, have you tried eating the instruction manual, and do you want some fries to go with that? If ever there was a pessimistic viewpoint on driving, it comes from the Land Rover people. Their Middle East ad agency has come up with what they think is a novel approach – an instruction manual/survival kit, with what to do when your Landy stops in the middle of the Arabian sand dunes. And when all else fails, you can eat it!
But before you tuck into the survival book, it tells you how to build a shelter, whether you should just abandon the vehicle, how to catch disbelieving birds for dinner and how to light a fire and then use the spiral binding as a set of tongs.
Land Rover Survival Guide.
The book is printed on potato-starch paper with a glycerine-based ink for a slightly sweet flavour. It is said to offer a nutritional value equivalent to a cheeseburger, but you will have to supply your own fries, I am afraid.
It was devised by the Land Rover’s Middle Eastern ad agency, Y&R Dubai who proudly said, “We researched every indigenous animal and plant people could encounter in the Arabian Desert and how they could be used to survive.”
The book was sent to 5000 existing customers, added as a supplement to the vehicle’s owner’s manual and made freely available in sports stores across the Middle East. The agency says Land Rover was so happy with the response it has requested the guide be inserted in a popular car magazine with a circulation of 70,000 readers. But will 70,000 readers want to buy a car which even the manufacturer admits may break down in the middle of the desert?
