Toyota Yaris Advertisement critisized

[Newbiewar]

http://www.slate.com/id/2144315/?GT1=8295

This Little Piggy Gets Dismembered

What's with Toyota's violent new ads?

By Seth Stevenson

Posted Monday, June 26, 2006, at 6:04 AM ET

The Spot: A pink piggy bank materializes inside a white room. The piggy looks around for a moment to get its bearings, then notices it's not alone: There's a mean-looking car a few feet away, eyeing the piggy with bad intentions. The pig trembles with fear as the car extends a long, metal tentacle from under its hood. The tentacle attacks the piggy with a laser, a circular saw, and a hammer, reducing the little pig to crumbled shards. Then it grabs one of the gold coins the piggy bank had held and snatches its loot back under the car's hood. "Starting at $12,405," reads an on-screen graphic. "Yaris, from Toyota," says the announcer.

It seems some of you are disturbed and confused by this Yaris ad. I've received a lot of reader mail about it, and your criticisms fall into two main categories: 1) You are troubled by the brutal treatment of that animated piggy bank. 2) You think Toyota's sales pitch is garbled.

First, the garbled sales-pitch complaint: Some of you feel that the ad's plot—the Yaris smashes a piggy bank and steals the money inside—suggests that this car will "break the bank" (as the idiom goes). I agree that a different scenario might have made the ad's message clearer, but this seems like a pretty minor misstep. For one, the price tag prominently displayed at the end of the spot makes it awfully hard to miss the ad's point. (And if you look closely, the car steals one coin but actually leaves some other coins behind. It's not greedy!) Even my e-mail complainants admit that, ultimately, they got the idea.

As for the dismembered pig: Your e-mails have called this ad "creepily violent" and expressed dismay over "that poor piggy bank." One person thinks the take-away here is that "Yaris cars kill cute things." What seems to really bother folks is the piggy's frightened reaction. It blinks its eyes in disbelief at the psychotic car, takes a wary step backward, and shakes with terror just before the car's laser slices it in half.

The sequence is slightly over the top. What's more, in another Yaris ad the car runs over a spider, causing it to squeal in pain (the spider is made out of gasoline nozzles, and the ad is meant to suggest that the Yaris is fuel-efficient). In a third ad, the Yaris captures and eats an insect (the insect represents an MP3 player, and the ad conveys that the Yaris has an audio jack for your iPod). Clearly, this car hates animals.

But why does it hate animals? I think it's a way to make a teensy, economy car seem a bit tougher and less emasculated. (And really, it's harmless. Compare these spots to the vile Dodge Caliber ad in which another cheap-o subcompact asserts its manliness by making fun of a "fairy.")

"The car itself is very huggable, but we didn't want a Herbie the Love Bug vibe," says Harvey Marco, executive creative director at Saatchi and Saatchi Los Angeles, which designed the campaign. Marco told me these ads target 18- to 34-year-olds, and more specifically a demographic he refers to as "upbeat indies." These people have a "bull$h! meter that is really high," says Marco, "so we didn't want to show actors in the ad and suggest that 'these people are really cool … just like you!' Personally, I hate when advertisers try to identify with me, and we didn't want to risk doing that."

The campaign ends up veering in the opposite direction. No people, no shots of the car in action, and no attempt to forge an emotional bond between car and consumer. Where are the high-speed maneuvers filmed in slow-motion on a snaky desert road? Where's the happy crew of passengers pulling surfboards off the roof rack? Instead, the four Yaris television spots use silly animated bits to focus on: 1) the car's low cost; 2) its fuel economy; 3) its compatibility with MP3 players; and 4) its plethora of interior compartments and cup holders. This utilitarian approach seems more typical of an ad campaign for a vacuum cleaner.

And I think it works. The ads are appropriate to a low-cost, no-frills product like the Yaris. Meanwhile, look at the ads for Honda Fit—another inexpensive gas-sipper from Japan (and the Yaris' major competitor right now). The Fit's ads, according to an interview with a Honda executive in the New York Times, "pay tribute to influences as diverse as video games, hairstyles, professional wrestling, Japanese science fiction films and the West Coast customized-car culture of Ed Roth." One Fit ad compares the car's roofline spoiler to a mullet haircut, and another associates the Fit with early-'80s arcade games. The Fit's slogan—"The Fit is Go!"—is carefully a-grammatical and uttered by a robot, in hopes that it will feel like organic Japanese kitsch. The whole thing is a bit much. The Fit campaign seems to be trying too hard to turn a cheap imported car into a cult icon.

Grade: B+. The Yaris isn't trying too hard. It's just selling its strengths. How basic is this campaign? It doesn't even bother with a tag line—just "Yaris, From Toyota."

[toyoguy]

they make us watch MTV U in the university's circuit room. I've see that commercial like five times/week, and I don't find it amusing at all.

[zhawk]

When they have to explain the commercials you know that there is something wrong.

The Yaris commercials seem very dumb to me.

[Snate]

The new Yaris ads are pretty stupid.

[Hudson]

Are these the same people who complain about anvils falling on Wile E. Coyote's head? And that Bugs Bunny's a transvestite? And that Tinky Winky is gay? C'mon! It's a cartoon!

I, for one, find the Yaris commercials entertaining. But I liked the Chrysler commercial where they eluded to a child being conceived in a Concorde.

[Flybrian]

Are these the same people who complain about anvils falling on Wile E. Coyote's head? And that Bugs Bunny's a transvestite? And that Tinky Winky is gay? C'mon! It's a cartoon!

Likely the same who lobbied against that Corvette commercial where the kid is driving.

I think the car is lousy and frightdully ugly, but the commercials are cute and the longer (2 minute?) sport with two Yaris play fighting shown in the theatre is cute, too.

[sciguy_0504]

Fly & cute?

Definately the same people that complained about the Corvette ad.

[siegen]

The Yaris breaking a piggy bank and stealing the money...

Haven't seen the commerical, but this is what comes to mind.

The Yaris will break the bank (like that article comments on) due to the high price for a bare bones car, and the dealer markup on Toyota's. But after it does that, it will also steal your money since you have to buy all the options to go with it, as it is barebones. In the end, you will wish you bought a Fit since it comes standard with everything you wish you had on the Yaris, but had to pay extra for.

Seriously, compare a Yaris and Fit on edmunds or something. Add the $1,710 PQ (power, ABS, etc) and $650 GY (side airbags) packages to the Yaris, and now the MSRP for a base sedan is $14,185 (compared to $13,850 for base Fit), and it still lacks some of the features of the Fit. Thow in the Auto transmissions, the Price of the Fit goes up $75 more than the Yaris (+ $725 vs + $800), but comes with a 5sp Auto instead of a 4sp Auto (and paddle shifters for Sport model). $75 more for another gear in your Auto transmission with paddle shifters if you have the Sport model, now that's a bargin. The Yaris is a joke, but Toyota sure did a good job with the marketting.

[Cadillacfan]

Some people clearly have way too much time on their hands to complain about some stupid Yaris commercials. They aren't funny at a all and definately not disturbing. Instead of watching TV all the time, why don't these people get up off their fat a$$es and do something outside.

[Sixty8panther]

I agree with Fly:

The Yaris is more lame than a Klingon Dictionary, but c'mon

it was CGI and the pig & spider were not even supposed to

be living creatures... (outside of the CGI element). They are

inanimate objects. The spider is a collection of gas nozzles

& the Pig is well a PIGGY BANK.

I hate people who lack a hobby so they try to b1tch about

anything and everything under the sun.

[Guest YellowJacket894]

I got the message of the ads just fine, thank you. However, I'm still unimpressed with the car and whole Toyota line.

The Fit ads are much, much worse, however. If you want to market something, I'd suggest you'd stay away from photos of the mullet at all costs. And check out the two-page magazine ads which makes a comparison with a tick and the Fit's offensive little four-pack and then reads "Mighty!" Yeah. When I think mighty, I sure as hell don't associate that word with a tick and a four-cylinder engine.

Edited June 30, 2006 by YellowJacket894

[Cory Wolfe]

Um... I'm no fan of the Yaris, but I find this pretty ridiculous. Upset by that?!

[regfootball]

"These people have a "bull$h! meter that is really high," says Marco"

except that the more traditional Toyota customer base is a bunch of oversensitive, litigious loving, granola eating boomer pu$$ies who are all about discrimination and sensitivity and stuff.

[haypops]

except that the more traditional Toyota customer base is a bunch of oversensitive, litigious loving, granola eating boomer pu$$ies who are all about discrimination and sensitivity and stuff.

Actually sales figures indicate that conservative red neck beer guzzling yahoos are Toyota's best coustomers in the United States. According to a GM commercial Chevy's best sales district is Southern California which by most people's estimation fits your description.

[mustang84]

I got the message of the ads just fine, thank you. However, I'm still unimpressed with the car and whole Toyota line.

The Fit ads are much, much worse, however. If you want to market something, I'd suggest you'd stay away from photos of the mullet at all costs. And check out the two-page magazine ads which makes a comparison with a tick and the Fit's offensive little four-pack and then reads "Mighty!" Yeah. When I think mighty, I sure as hell don't associate that word with a tick and a four-cylinder engine.

Those Fit commercials get on my nerves! They're even worse than the annoying Focus commercial from a couple years ago. I was reading a Car and Driver from last month and splayed across two pages was a obnoxiously bright Fit ad with the text "1.5 Liters of Micro Muscle Fury!"

Followed by: "Grip the wheel! Rev it up! All systems Go! Feel the compressed fury of the rip-roarin', lean burnin' friction fightin', 1.5-liter V-TEC power plant! A 16-valve, 4-cylinder dynamo! Punch it! Let the gas-hongs eat your dust!"

Like the guy in the article above said, the bullsh*t meter of the 18-34 age range is pretty high, and this ad seemed geared more toward video game addicted 14 year-olds than people who are actually old enough to purchase a car.

[Paolino]

Since the first time I've seen the Yaris commercials, I've thought they were nothing more than irritating. First of all, the car is simply ugly. It has made a friend of mine who NEVER looks at cars, IM me and say, "Wow... this new Toyota... it's FUGLY", not to mention she's equated it with the stupidity of the Pizza Hut commercial describing the "dipinomically correct" dipping pieces.

Does no one have a good idea?

[Paolino]

Oh, and why do I have to see the $h!ty commercial like 5 times an hour?

[DetroitNut90]

I actually think the commercial with the floating dash hovering around with the search light is ok. I haven't seen any lately, though.

The Fit adds are just plain annoying. There's an entire 4-page leaflet for the thing in the August edition of Motor Trend, and it compares the back of the Fit with, of all things, a mullet. I think they're attacking the Camaro in some way.

[Guest YellowJacket894]

Those Fit commercials get on my nerves!  They're even worse than the annoying Focus commercial from a couple years ago.  I was reading a Car and Driver from last month and splayed across two pages was a obnoxiously bright Fit ad with the text "1.5 Liters of Micro Muscle Fury!" 

Followed by: "Grip the wheel!  Rev it up!  All systems Go!  Feel the compressed fury of the rip-roarin', lean burnin' friction fightin', 1.5-liter V-TEC power plant!  A 16-valve, 4-cylinder dynamo!  Punch it!  Let the gas-hongs eat your dust!"

God, please, don't make me relive that damn ad! Possibly the worst minute I've spent of my entire life. And I've had one root canal.

Like the guy in the article above said, the bull$h! meter of the 18-34 age range is pretty high, and this ad seemed geared more toward video game addicted 14 year-olds than people who are actually old enough to purchase a car.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's Toyota for you. Brainwashing the American youth so they can stay afloat.

[4gm]

I think the Yaris commercials are some of the best and most creative to come from any auto manufacturer in a while. The car isn't much to look at but those commercials are great. They stand out in a wasteland of car commercials that all look and sound the same.

[Hudson]

Likely the same who lobbied against that Corvette commercial where the kid is driving.

Yes...probably the same culture nazis.