There are industry secrets us laymen will always have questions about. For filmmakers, how do you make it look like one actor is playing twins? For McDonald’s employees, what exactly is in your special sauce? And for laundresses, where the heck are all my socks?
I have to admit, how Toyota thermal tests their cars during development isn’t high on my list of curiosities. Though I suppose it’s always good to know. Aussie agency Publicis Mojo’s latest spot for Toyota shows a procession of cars on a track, in a giant warehouse, being alternately frozen and heat-blasted by machines resembling an X-treme carwash set-up.
“During development, we’ll thermal test a car to see how every part of it reacts when pushed to its limits,” says the Aussie voiceover. “It may seem excessive, but that’s how we test for quality. That’s what makes it a Toyota.”
I often think of the Prius as the emblem of my generation: my parents were the first to baby-proof their houses, and my friends and I are the first to buy hybrid cars. But, I wonder if the company is still fighting to recover from last year’s bad press amidst rumors of slipping standards and poor quality production. I get it, when we think Toyota, they want us to think quality, hence the technician in the Eskimo suit and vehicle-rotisserie. But, do they also want us to to think heavy metal because they are playing Nazareth in the background? Toyotas are sensible. They’re just not that rock and roll. Credits after the jump.
Executive Creative Director: Micah Walker
Senior Art Director: Dave Gibson
Senior Copywriter: Nathan Lennon
Agency Executive Producer: Michael Hilliard
Agency Producer: Penny Brown
Team Leader: Davin Power
Senior Account Manager: Ashley Brodfuehrer
Strategy: Ashton Bishop
Director: Pleix
Producer: Edward Grann at Stink