Brand Republic regales us with a tale about Toyota Australia and its decision to pull an online ad for its Yaris model. Though the above ditty called “Clean Getaways” won the Clever Film Comp–a social media contest for filmmakers that was launched by the automaker and Saatchi & Saatchi–viewers quickly deemed the innuendo-heavy spot “degrading”, “sexist” and “incestuous.”
Penned by freelance creative Micha McDonald and directed by Brisbane-based Frazer Bailey, the “ad” features a boyfriend chatting it up with his girl’s father before taking her out. He tells her Pops, “I’m here to take Jennifer’s virginity out tonight.” Her father replies: “She can take a good pounding in any direction”, before the daughter responds with “I’m ready to blow” and so on and so on.
On Aussie marketing site Mumbrella.com, McDonald seemed to relish the backlash, saying, “Yeah–It’s getting totally SLAMMED by everyone. But that’s exactly what we wanted it to do. Basically we put a $60,000 production behind a 1 minute dodgy ‘Dick Joke’ that looks like an actual ad–and it WON. That’s social media 4 ya–Gotta love it when the big boys get burnt!!” As a classy final gesture, he adds, “If anyone is offended by this I’m truly sorry–and suck my dick.” We can only wonder how this affects next year’s judging.
More: “Toyota’s New Strategy to Include $1 Billion Ad Blitz”