Swedish Commercial Touting Tesla Roadster Shows an Oil-Soaked Henry Ford

The Tesla Motors Web site links to the commercial, now on YouTube, which promotes Fortum, an energy company that serves the Nordic countries and builds up to a glowing portrayal of the Tesla Roadster.

Before the Tesla Roadster makes its appearance, we see grim footage of oil field roustabouts that recalls the stark work of Dorothea Lange, the photographer known for her portrait of the "Migrant Mother" during the Great Depression. It also recalls last year's Oscar-winning performance by Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood.

As oil gushes from a derrick, it soils a portrait of Henry Ford. The oil drips down his face in a cross-cultural negative image that needs little translation. Other footage shows an old-fashioned street scene, with a man in a top hat and cane stepping in horse excrement.

In a technique stolen from The Wizard of Oz, the black-and-white world of horses and Henry Ford shifts dramatically into color as the Tesla Roadster makes its appearance in a sunny scene.

Inside Line says: The automotive good guys versus the bad guys, at least according to one strange little Swedish commercial. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent