Toyota is poised to air their first commercial for the 2010 Prius tonight during "House" on FOX and "Castle" on ABC. The ad uses people to represent various parts of the environment and the Prius appears to "turn on" the environment as it drives. It is a pretty sexy car... Here's the video for you: I'll be posting a 5 minute "Behind the scenes" look at how the "Harmony" commercial was made and what Toyota was trying to accomplish later on tonight. Be sure to DVR "House" or "Castle" tonight!
Pretty cool commercial, can't wait to actually see it on tv. I liked it better than the beach insight one.
I'd rather have them air a :30 second version of Bossdowner's video. At least that made the Gen III look extremely cool. This new ad is very dorky IMO. Not the smartest route to take since many hybrid haters already think the Prius isn't very "cool."
That is actually a very good point... Like I've posted, I liked the commercial for its uniqueness. If Toyota wants to appeal to people other than the 'green community' though, they should do something like that Bossdowner video. It would appeal more to the masses, not just a particular group. Like try and tout its new gadgets, new look and its extraordinary gas mileage; Don't always try and make the Prius look like nothing more than a green vehicle. Or is it too late to sell it as anything else? I do not know, I'm not into marketing whatsoever nor do I think I know the least about it lol.
:hippie:I'm not sure about the hippie-ish song, but the video looks cool and I bet it'll look awesome in HD! Definitely better than the Insight beach commercial. Thanks for the link!
Great, yet another dorky greeny 'save the whales' Prius commercial. Yet more ammo for the anti-Prius crowd to help them convey the message that the Prius isn't for 'regular' folks and is only for earth shoe wearing granola eating women that don't shave under their arms (sorry for that mental image). Why doesn't Toyota run an add campaign to help promote (and create) the image that the Prius is a mainstream car that just happens to get great gas mileage? Granted, the theme needs to be more subtle than - the Toyota Prius - it isn't just for Dorks. Instead, why not show a mommy hauling around the kids and all of their junk (in a Prius) - or is Toyota concerned that the Prius will poach sales from their more profitable SUV's and minivans? Maybe the answer is yes - and Toyota in reality doesn't want to sell too many Priuses. SUV's make a lot of money (for Toyota).
I feel like Evan and RichardUSA. It's an odd commercial for a car and doesn't make me want to buy it. This reminds me of another recent commercial in which a bunch of cartoon sea creatures fade in and out of each other to music. It was an enjoyable commercial to watch but I can't quite remember the product being sold. The Insight commercial is cute and upbeat and helps me picture myself using the car in a fun way. It uses the bandwagon persuasive technique with the beach party atmosphere. This Prius commercial is cute and upbeat, but waits until the end to tack on a few seconds of dry, spoken words and reveal the point of the commercial. I don't think it does enough to show off all the neat features of the car.
Oh no, it's quite the greenie weenie video. No matter, the car will still be highly sought after. Car of the Year for sure.
I really like the commercial - very cleverly done, quite creative. Sort of reminds me of Laguna Beach's fabulous Pageant of the Masters. However, I agree this won't necessarily appeal to the mainstream - and it shouldn't. This isn't quite the mainstream car --- yet.
Toyota marketing has even admitted that they want the Gen III to be mainstream. Toyota, Honda Battle Over Hybrids - WSJ.com We recognize that normally hybrid sales fall with gas prices, but with this new product we think we can break that paradigm," says Kim McCullough, Toyota's corporate manager of marketing communications. The newly remodeled Prius will have more mass appeal, she says, because it is slightly bigger, with more horsepower. The initial Prius advertising largely targeted the early adopter and the tree-hugging crowd, while the second generation of the vehicle was seen as the family's second or commuter car. This campaign is about the "mainstreaming of the product," Ms. McCullough says. "The big barrier for mass consumers is they worried that the Prius was underpowered and small," says Mike McKay, executive creative director at the Los Angeles offices of Saatchi & Saatchi, the Publicis Groupe agency that created the ad effort. Addressing the power question in another of its outdoor gimmicks, Toyota will head to some big parks, where it will set up 8- to 12-foot-tall flower sculptures equipped with solar panels that can be used as cellphone- and laptop-recharging stations. In August, the company will have billboards in California made of flowers.
I disagree, the Prius is mainstream and needs mainstream commercials (targeted is okay ((like this one))) come on Toyota get with it
I agree entirely, it is far too cartoonish in its presentation. And who do they think they're kidding, in the end it is it is still a metal bucket powered by gasoline, although cunningly contrived in the way it is engineered. Toyota's ad agency can do better than this, and need to if they are going to sell to the mainstream. On the other hand, the Honda Insight ad looks to me for all the world like an ad for the G2 Prius, right up until the voice-over mentions the car's name! I suppose I have become too familiar with the Prius profile, which the Insight is a dead ringer for.
