What's that way up in the yuletide sky? It's not Santa's sleigh. It's a ridiculously high-concept campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi in New York for the Greater New York Toyota Dealers Association. Over at LifeAfterSanta.com, we learn, in exhaustive multimedia fashion, the fate of Kris Kringle's eight principal reindeer after the jolly fat man ditches them for a Prius. Some of the content is amusing in low-rent SNL fashion, particularly the story of Blitzen, who becomes the leader of a metal band and has a hit song with "Rein Supreme." (The name "Blitzen" just works for a rocker.) The problem is, there's just so much stuff. Each of the antlered freaks gets its own two-minute-plus video (some are elaborate, most drag at least a little), along with copious social outreach and detailed supporting materials. Isn't the Prius about conservation? I wanted someone to sleigh me before one more actor in a reindeer suit pranced across the screen. (Prancer, by the way, winds up selling real estate. Hey, it beats hanging from a hook in some Alaskan smokehouse, but just barely.) They should make Toyota dealers don the ridiculous furry costumes for the holidays. That would serve 'em right. You want me to pay sticker price? Don't think so! Ho! Ho! Ho!
