Barbara Lippert's Critique: Clever Car Tricks

Lots of spots are set in offices these days, but that genre (which I’ve dubbed film beige) tends to make cube life seem so dull and boring that getting fast food for lunch is the high point. (The tedium is the message.)

By contrast, this new Toyota commercial immediately sets itself apart. It offers a recognizable figure in the business world that really touches a nerve (if not an entire power plant): the bitchy boss, who happens to be female and middle-aged (double ouchies!).

The archetype, who seems to have awakened on this particular morning on the wrong side of her latte, sits at an enormous architectural table (much cooler, design-wise, than a regular desk) with her freshly coiffed hair and sharp suit, and starts right in on haranguing the junior employee.

“This-isn’t-what-we-talked-about-at-all!” she says, picking up steam for the drubbing.