In case you haven’t heard, Mini is out there picking another fight. When they first entered the scene here in the US, they took on big, gas guzzling SUVs, proudly proclaiming that the ‘SUV Backlash has begun’.

Now they’ve decided to challenge one of the great supercars of the last 100 years. The famous Porsche 911.

Turns out the head of marketing at Mini used to work for Porsche, so maybe he’s got a personal score to settle. Or maybe it’s just another brilliant example of a good, old-fashioned David vs. Goliath battle that everyone can’t wait to see how it plays out.

If the email reply from Porsche (posted by mini on their facebook site http://bit.ly/dypr05) is authentic, it looks like it will be a 1-horse race on the 21st.

After all, what does Porsche have to gain by running the race? Nothing. If they win, Goliath will have stomped David, and as we all know by now ‘Nobody roots for Goliath.’ If Mini wins (which we all know is impossible unless the 911 crashes into the wall), then they are humiliated and forced to watch the CMO at Mini proudly wear a t-shirt proclaiming ‘We Beat Porsche’.

But as a fan of both the 911 and Challenger behaviour, I couldn’t help but take notice of this brilliant example of staging a big, bold ‘symbol of re-evaluation’ to get more people to notice the mini. It will be interesting to see how many tune in on the 21st to watch a 1-car race.

One Response to “Mini ‘mano a mano’ with 911”

1. Karl Karlsson says: August 18, 2010 at 7:21 pm

   Mini vs 911 was already a foregone conclusion. Maybe Jim should have challenged a Cayman to stand a chance. Still think it would have ended the same way. Porsche > Mini