Hi Mike - I do think the VO is having the effect of making everything seem a bit upbeat - as if he could be describing the life-cycle of something less threatening. There's nothing wrong with the timbre of his voice, it just seems a bit 'un-serious' - and I think you're right in terms of asking him to have a go. I do think however that an English female voice would get even closer to what you want - there's something about the American voice that clusters your work with advertising somehow and that's where I suspect the tonal misalignment is coming from.