Culture Car News Facebook Users: Please Stop that Horrid Song. Toyota: It’s Working!
Posted by admin on Friday Nov 7, 2008 Under Culture Car News
Culture Car News
Sing it with us now: Saaaaaved by Zeeeeeeero..
Stuck there, isn’t it?
Esquire magazine reports, “If you’ve watched any football over the last two weeks, chances are very good that you’re uncomfortably familiar with the song from the Toyota commercial.” By Esquire’s count, the ad “aired seven times during CBS’s 1 p.m. broadcast of the Jets-Chiefs game on Sunday, six times during FOX’s 4 p.m. Steelers-Giants game, and five times over the course of last week’s Monday night battle between the Patriots and Broncos on ESPN.”
It’s not much of a commercial - just computer graphics of a few Toyota vehicles sliding in front of a giant red Zero to the tune of what, apparently, was once a little-known song by a mildly popular new wave band from the 1980’s. Yes, it’s part of a real song by a British group called The Fixx, although Toyota’s version is apparently a cover of the long-forgotten tune.
It’s also annoying millions. Esquire reports, “Bloggers have started complaining. Facebook groups are forming in protest.” (and yes, with a quick search we found seven such groups)
But Toyota, apparently, has no desire to pull the spots off the air. Jalopnik explains, “Toyota broke with recently established practice of infrequent commercial re-airs by running the ad so frequently it’s completely unavoidable.” The annoying song, played so frequently, will “succeed in its desire to get you to remember the company’s promise of 0% financing.”
Annoying us all, it seems, may be the point. Teressa Iezzi, editor of the advertising publication Creativity, tells Esquire “I think ridiculous repetition has become a media strategy in itself, particularly for low budget efforts like this one.” As long as the commercial is causing people to remember that Toyota is offering zero-percent financing on 2008 models, she says, “if it happens to make thousands of people want to stick forks in their eyes–well, that’s a small price to pay.”
So there you have it - harm yourself if you must, but go buy a Yaris. Maybe if they sell enough of them, they’ll shut the song up at last.
Research the best car deals for November - including a few from Toyota’s rivals if you’d rather buy anything else — with U.S. News’ car rankings and reviews.
