By now, you've probably seen a video floating around of Jeremy Clarkson attempting to put together a DHL shipping box. It's almost mildly amusing, but despite what a lot of other reports are saying, it's not more entertaining than the new Top Gear, regardless of the troubles of the BBC's rebooted series.
Most of the argument stems from the YouTube reception to Clarkson's video. According to MSN Entertainment, viewers of the short video are calling it better than the new Top Gear. One YouTube user wrote "That box is funnier than Matt LeBlanc," while another said they laughed harder at the 3:22 video than in the two hours of TG that's aired so far. According to MSN, another user wrote, "The funny thing is, if this video gets about three million views. It has officially had more views than the last episode of 'New' Top Gear."
This video is not about cars, has no cars in it, and is not produced like that show ? or at all. (James May's portrait camerawork leaves something to be desired.) The Top Gear comparison is being made because of the talent, of course, and yeah, they're funny guys doing their bumbling routine. But the comparison is nonsense.
YouTube's own metrics for the video seem to back up the commenters, if you like random numbers. The Grand Tour team's DHL video went up on June 6 and has already racked up nearly 1.3 million views, while it's gathered 82 likes for every one dislike. The trailer for Top Gear's second episode, meanwhile, was published on June 3, and has only 203,000 views with 6.6 dislikes for every one like. We include the box-assembly video up top not because we recommend watching it, by the way.
But here's the problem ? YouTube users are not and should not be the generally accepted arbiters of taste. This is a mob, and when faced with change the mob flocks to what it knows and embarks on a virtual crusade to destroy what's new. In this case, it's great news for Clarkson, Hammond, and May. But for Top Gear, it's yet another obstacle to overcome. The new Top Gear isn't great, but until The Grand Tour debuts, there's really no comparing the two. So let Clarkson put together a box, and let Evans and his team try and sort out their show's problems.