Toyota Tacoma Super Bowl Commercial Less Than Honest

Toyota ran a time-lapsed commerical for its Tacoma during the Super Bowl in which the truck is parked on a rocky beach and subjected to the rising tide and heavy waves that smash it against the rocks. Of course, when the tide goes out, the truck is undamaged even though it was toss all over the place during high tide. That would explain the disclaimer at the bottom which stated this was a dramatization. More like a lie.

Written by Steve Hall    Comments (24)     File: Commercials, Super Bowl 2006, Television, Worst     Feb- 5-06  
Advertising Jobs

Enjoy what you've read? Subscribe to Adrants Daily and receive the daily contents of this site each day along with free whitepapers.

ad:tech Conference Headlines
-->

Comments

Isn't that the post modern nature of advertising? That the ad makers now recognize that we all know we're being lied to so they simply lie to us more outrageously?

Posted by: LJRphoto on February 5, 2006 10:16 PM

Agree.

Posted by: makethelogobigger [TypeKey Profile Page] on February 5, 2006 10:41 PM

OK...so hows is this different from the their terrible "Meteor" spot?

Posted by: Cas on February 6, 2006 12:45 AM

please just watch this and tell me that toyota lies. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2402060372341641699

Posted by: coty on February 6, 2006 07:54 AM

I'm confused as to why you think the truck came out of the water undamaged. They had to have a mechanic work on it for an hour to get it running again. Perhaps I'm not looking at the right video?

Posted by: LJRphoto on February 6, 2006 08:41 AM

Still, LJR, you have to admit, that particular Toyota faired quite well! Now we know where the idea for the ad came from:-)

Posted by: Steve Hall on February 6, 2006 09:30 AM

Are you people kidding me? How is this commercial a lie? Do you honestly think that Toyota is saying that a truck could withstand a situation like that? You are either gulible or stupid! It's an exaggeration. Use your common sense to comprehend the underlying message. (no pun intended).

Posted by: john on February 6, 2006 10:05 AM

John, you need to see the video Coty points to. While the Super Bowl ad may have been an exaggeration, this video is not and would have made a better ad that the one Toyota ran.

Posted by: Steve Hall on February 6, 2006 10:09 AM

John, refer to my original comment...

Posted by: LJRphoto on February 6, 2006 10:25 AM

Last year's "Girlfriend" spot (truck gets pushed off cliff by jealous girlfriend but winds up undamaged to her distress) was so much better. This new spot is "Girlfriend" without the humor, wit, or engagement. And, in the new spot, to see the truck just slashing about in the water and smashing against the rocks was oddly repulsing (maybe a subconscious post-Katrina thing?). In the Girlfriend spot, the sight of the truck bouncing down the hill was amusing because of the whole set up with the girl - and the shot-on-home-video element. I will guess that this wasn't the agency's fault and that some dinghead client directed the agency to "just focus on the product, we don't need any of that other stuff" -- you know, the "stuff" that makes a commercial memorable and impactful. Christ, even a Honda commercial (zzzzzzz) scored higher in the USA today poll.

Posted by: Jimmy the K on February 6, 2006 12:54 PM

yea, toyota's commercial lied, but the reason why i put this video on here, is to show everyone how closely related the two videos are. that Hi-Lux is amazing, i knew toyota was reliable as anything(especially the older ones.), but to watch that movie and the machanic was just allowed simple tools, and WD-40. well thats a bigger advertisement than the one on the super bowl. I personally am done with american cars. so the Toyo, will be in my garage next time i decided to invest.

also i would love to have an old toyota truck to. just to see what i can put it through.

Posted by: coty on February 6, 2006 01:31 PM

"Do you honestly think that ... You are either gulible or stupid! It's an exaggeration."

Duh - must - be - stupid. We're used to seeing a lot of shit caught on video and the effect was cool in the girlfriend spot. But immediately wore off by the time the meteor spot hit - pun intended - because you just raised the reality exaggeration stakes. What's next? Landing a fucking Camry on the sun?

Just cuz toyota does some cool post-production slight-of-hand doesn't mean anything. It's got an uphill battle going up against our collective consciousness: by now we've all seen too many video shows of world's greatest (insert name here) crashes, or Fox's When Brands Advertise.

It's inevitable that we were going to hit the reality wall at some point. (I think we even did it back with Vick throwing the apparent endless pass two years back.) Consumers are too smart to have brands show videos that are 'REALLY REAL DUDE' when we know deep-down they can't be, based on what we've seen already. I'd take the PS2 spots a while back for Ratchet and Clank. At least they brought the fantasy world in the real seamlessly.

Do that, and you undermine your brand and underestimate the consumer. Figures. It matches the safe bs spot they ran with the half-hispanic-half-white family drive at the end.

Posted by: makethelogobigger [TypeKey Profile Page] on February 6, 2006 01:36 PM

ok the topgear video wasnt real.! they used a different hi-lux everytime.:( kinda like the dukes of hazard they replaced it for every stunt(come on man).i admit i would say it was all staged, but for it to even run at all after what they did to it(even if they was allowed to fix it, is an achievement). we all know foreign cars are more reliable. thats why the topgear video was made. to some degree show it. the super bowl commercial, was kinda stupid. i was just pointing out that, that must be were they got the idea.

Posted by: coty on February 6, 2006 03:20 PM

Saatchi's have been creating ad's for Toyota utes like this in NZ since the 1970's. They have been the most popular farm vehicles here for decades because what this video shows is all true.
If you visit rural NZ you'll see countless examples of utes of a similar vintage as in the Top Gear video...they keep going and going and going and going...the only reason anyone buys a new one is because they can, not because they need to.
(BTW: do you guys not get Top Gear in the US??)

Posted by: old news on February 6, 2006 09:38 PM

No we don't get Top Gear here in the US. Unfortunately for us, quality TV is banned.

Posted by: Recluse on February 8, 2006 11:22 AM

"Unfortunately for us, quality TV is banned."

What, you have a problem with Dog the Bounty Hunter?

;-p

Posted by: makethelogobigger on February 8, 2006 12:01 PM

Ok, without reading ALL the details the commercial was a dramatization of an actual experiment done by Top Gear out of the UK. Top Gear can be seen in the US on the Discovery Channel, and the video can be downloaded from the BBC site as well. They also put the truck on top of a building that was then blown up and dug it out of the rubble. The rules were they could only use hand tools, and starting fluid...ie no new parts to get it running again. It was all the same truck, you can even match the rust holes if you like, plus as the damage piled up you could see it throughout the segment. At the end the frame was almost cracked completely in two and they decided to memorialize the truck.

Posted by: UHOHRAGGY on March 27, 2006 01:16 PM

toyota is the best you fags. the undamaged thing i understand but they did realy try putting a tocoma in bristal bay in the tied and it did run after words

Posted by: mike on July 22, 2006 10:47 PM

Do any of you have any prior knowledge of good situational advertising what so ever!

Posted by: sam on September 6, 2006 06:22 PM

Omg you guys are retarded. If the Toyota went through that kind of abuse it would be so fucked up. Plus all the american cars have more steel. And way stronger frames. A Ford truck would fare so much better. So as long as none of you are car designers how do you know whats better. You guys fall into false advertising way to easily. Watch the truth about trucks on ford.com if that was fake then Toyota would sew them because Ford says so much stuff about Toyota. If it wasnt true Toyota would have done something about it.

Posted by: fordlover on September 11, 2006 11:24 PM

Omg you guys are retarded. If the Toyota went through that kind of abuse it would be so fucked up. Plus all the american cars have more steel. And way stronger frames. A Ford truck would fare so much better. So as long as none of you are car designers how do you know whats better. You guys fall into false advertising way to easily. Watch the truth about trucks on ford.com if that was fake then Toyota would sew them because Ford says so much stuff about Toyota. If it wasnt true Toyota would have done something about it.

Posted by: fordlover on September 11, 2006 11:24 PM

HEY PEOPLE ITS TRUE!!! THATS JUST LIKE MY TRUCK!
EXCEPT MINES A 1991 SR5 V6 4X4 = MINT! AHHHHHH! 1991 Chevy, do those still run perf? 1991 Dodge do those still exist? 1991 Ford was that the courier?

Posted by: d on September 17, 2007 04:40 AM

HEY PEOPLE ITS TRUE!!! THATS JUST LIKE MY TRUCK!
EXCEPT MINES A 1991 SR5 V6 4X4 = MINT! AHHHHHH! 1991 Chevy, do those still run perf? 1991 Dodge do those still exist? 1991 Ford was that the courier?

Posted by: d on September 17, 2007 04:40 AM

HEY PEOPLE ITS TRUE!!! THATS JUST LIKE MY TRUCK!
EXCEPT MINES A 1991 SR5 V6 4X4 = MINT! AHHHHHH! 1991 Chevy, do those still run perf? 1991 Dodge do those still exist? 1991 Ford was that the courier?

Posted by: d on September 17, 2007 04:40 AM

Post a comment