Music videos in 1987 were visual currency. Director Marty Callner had conceptualized a dynamic clip featuring fast cuts and performance footage, but the missing element was female star power. Coverdale originally cast actress Claudia Schiffer, who backed out shortly before filming began.
Coverdale brought his then-girlfriend, actress Tawny Kitaen, to the production set. Callner took one look at her presence and instructed her to dress for the shoot. The visual setup was simple yet iconic: two Jaguar XJ sedans parked side by side on a soundstage, one white, one black. Kitaen, dressed in a white negligee, danced across the hoods of both vehicles, performing impromptu gymnastic cartwheels and leaning through the sunroofs.
The Tawny Kitaen Jaguar music video instantly became high rotation priority on MTV. The imagery matched the hedonism and aspirational sheen of the MTV hair metal era. The video generated millions in free exposure, catapulting Whitesnake into heavy rotation alongside Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Mötley Crüe. The visual became so pervasive in pop culture that it was parodied and referenced across entertainment media for the next forty years.
