I don't really understand what's going on with this viral Range Rover video

Despite being archaic, I generally don't feel “old,” at least not what I perceive as “old.” This applies to almost all aspects of life except trying to understand what makes things popular on TikTok. My kid showed me this short video on TikTok, some kind of video about Range Rover? Or at least In a Range Rover whose main theme is the existence of Range Rovers. Anyway, this video seems to have millions upon millions of views, likes and thousands of comments, and it's just an older British woman asking what car she's in.

That's it.

I mean, I think That's it, unless I'm missing some subtext here. But it seems like it is. Here, take a look for yourself:

@forsmiles_ #foryou #xyzbca #fypシ ♬ Original sound – ForSmiles

Let's just break down everything that happens in the video: There's a bit of a cough as we enter the scene, which is the gorgeous white leather interior of what appears to be a new Range Rover. Then our bespectacled, grey-haired star is revealed and asks in a sophisticated British accent: “What's the name of this latest car?”

The camera then pans to the open door, where a balding man stands casually in the doorway, wearing a gray sweater, one hand in his pocket, and answers, “It's called a Range Rover, Grandma.”

Then there's an interrupted laugh and that's it. Boom! That's all! That's the entirety of this little one-act play, in which a woman wants to know the name of the vessel she's in and another person, possibly her actual grandchild (?), reveals the answer.

Why the hell is this so popular? It has been reposted on countless other accounts, including Instagram and in original and parody forms (like this fur-themed one?) on eX Twitter:

It's called Range Rover Grandma ????????? pic.twitter.com/axa2W5EldA

– dorag. (@dorag32) August 26, 2024

Plus, it seems to have first appeared in August! But I'm only now hearing about which tracks. So it's already a few months old and yet there are accounts where the video is still being reposted every day. Why?

What am I missing again? This doesn't seem to be so much a car fetish thing, but perhaps a British fetish thing? Some variations of these videos label it “the most British video” or something about the accents. Maybe this is the key? The intense Britishness of it all?

I still feel like I'm missing something. But maybe I should. Maybe this is how the world is now and I best get used to it.

Does that count as a car video? It's definitely a Range Rover theme. But what this video is actually about, whatever that strange, powerful hook may be, it's not really about Range Rover. Maybe it's about the rhythm of the speech, the sounds and pace, the repetition, the half-interrupted laughter and coughing, the insolence Snippets of everything?

Whatever it is, it's definitely a Range Rover, grandma.

Modern rear bumpers are a sad joke

Someone traded in an 18 year old supercharged Range Rover Sport and I was scared. Until I drove it

This V12-swapped Range Rover from Aston Martin couldn't be more British