Original Youku video for those in China after the jump.
There aren’t many Ferrari owners in China who will win sympathy votes from non-Ferrari drivers for this incident in Shanghai, video of which was posted two days ago. The negative publicity for the Italian luxury car began with Bo Guagua; unfair as it may be, “Ferrari” became associated with princelings and their wealth and corruption. A public relations stunt then went horribly wrong in Nanjing, whereby a “drifting” Ferrari left skid marks all over a 600-year-old Ming Dynasty wall. And then there was the crash in Singapore, where an alleged son of a Chinese official, speeding in a Ferrari and running a red light, killed himself and two others in a taxi. Backlash against the riche — nouveau or otherwise — has never been higher in China; now’s not the best of times to be caught flaunting an expensive ride.
Putting all that aside though… whatever you’re driving, don’t be a dick and lay into the horn on a pedestrian. Or horses. Especially horses. Because they — unlike humans — will not stifle their desire to kick the paint off your schmancy motormobile; a Ferrari, in their eyes, is but another quadrupedal jalopy jalopic quadruped, and if you piss it off, it will ruin your day.
According to this news report, the horse riders were parading around Shanghai World Expo park to raise environmental awareness. After encountering a bit of traffic, drivers, as they’re wont to do here, began honking. It’s unclear where the honks were coming from, exactly, but the horse in the video reacted as I’m sure you and I usually want to in that situation. Animal instincts, in this case, proved more entertaining than human inhibitions.
The Ferrari driver didn’t call the cops “likely because he didn’t have a license plate on his car, damage seem[ed] limited,” according to MIC Gadget.
