Ad of the Day: Toyota

Last week, the automaker and its agency, Saatchi & Saatchi in Los Angeles, launched a new animated Prius spot, "Hum," hinging on a happy-go-lucky brand tune and set in a world with fairy-tale overtones. The camera opens on a Prius passing through a pseudo-enchanted forest, reminiscent of FedEx's sustainability spot from last year. In the Toyota ad, the flora sparkles, and the animals seem more curious about the car than startled by it—presumably because the environment loves a Prius. So do families, the ad says, as a pair of suburban parents pack their tots into the minivan version of the model. So do urbanites, it further illustrates, thanks to the smaller, street-parking-friendly option. (Perhaps the best single moment in the spot: A chess player pockets a piece straight off the board while his opponent is dazzled by a nearby Prius.) As the jingle reminds us, there is "a Prius for everyone." 

Clocking in at only 30 seconds, it's an endearing—and, given the vehicles, an appropriately efficient—piece of marketing. The visuals are sweet and snappy, if perhaps a bit cartoony for the ad's otherwise twee-crunchy vibe. (And they're significantly less odd than the agency and client's giant "People Person" from last year.) Throughout, the song's nursery-rhyme lyrics don't do much except enumerate the available options for buying a Prius, praise the virtues of the car, and entreat the audience to gleefully bop their heads and hum along about how wonderful that all is. In other words, they do exactly what they're supposed to do: It's the type of tune that doesn't let you forget, even for a second, that you're the target of an advertisement. It's also the type of tune that may have you clawing at your ears for weeks as you try to escape the echoes of its singsong sales pitch. (The original track was written by copywriter Ted Kapusta.) By second listen, it has already begun worming its way deep into your long-term memory.

Or maybe you'll find it so charming—it is—that you'll forget that the brand wants to reach into your pocket while you're dazzled by a nearby Prius.

CREDITS

Client: Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.

Model: Prius

Spot: "Hum"

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles

Executive Creative Directors: Chris Adams, Margaret Keene

Creative Directors: Gavin Lester, Glenn Sanders

Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Ted Kapusta

Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Thomas Rodgers

Director of Integrated Production: Tanya LeSieur

Associate Director of Integrated Production: Melissa Eccles

Senior Producer: Margaret Nickerson

Producer: Annie Porter

Associate Integrated Producer: Mike Heil

Project Manager: Shaunt Halebian

Account Director: Marisstella Marinkovic

Account Supervisor: Michelle Agnew

Account Executive: Chloe Martin

Strategic Planning Director: Sara Bamossy

Senior Strategic Planner: Regan Zajac

Business Affairs Manager: Stephen Duncan

Social Engagement Director: Tomos Evans

Social Strategy: Nguyen Duong

Production Company: Passion Pictures

Executive Producers: Belinda Blacklock, Nicola Finn

Director: Sam Mason

Director of Photography: Pete Candeland

Line Producers: Angela Foster, Adrian Piasek-Wanski

Head of Ccomputer Graphics: Jason Nicolas

Visual Effects Supervisor: Neil Riley

Character Design, Development: Stephanie Davidson, Kim Dulaney

Computer Graphics Animation Supervisor: Wesley Coman

Computer Graphics Supervisors: Mario Ucci, Rick Thiele

Telecine: James Bamford, The Mill

Music: Brian Loschiavo, Black Iris Music

Eexecutive Producer, Creative Director: Daron Hollowell

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