The centerpiece commercial features a kind of mud-hut Prius being assembled out of twigs, earth and grass by a group of rugged campers. Against a moody mountain backdrop, the Prius slowly disintegrates back into the land, while an announcer says, "Can a car company grow in harmony with the environment? Why not? At Toyota, we're not only working toward cars with zero emissions. We're also striving for zero waste in everything else we do."
The image in this commercial is combined with huge grass field, blue sky, rolling hills ,soft sunshine and a flowing stream. Every single item inside of this commercial seems really natural and even somehow perfect, which arouses the audience's desire for such ideal environment. Not only are the aesthetics fully revealed, it also reflects a distinct theme which is humans should improve their conscious to protect the environment.
In the advertisement, several workers use very natural material and methods to assemble a car. The procedure of producing a car is completely environmentally friendly since every raw material is coming from nature and the cars can be back to the soil well once the car is out of use by people. Modern machines and the automatic producing process are replaced by wood and mud as well as human labour. There is no pollution, no noise, even no conflicts in this piece of commercial. Obviously, the theme it trying to convey is industry production should be in harmony with nature.
While take a careful look, you will find the producer of this commercial tends to spin around the car in order to highlight the car rather than taking a long shot with mountains or river in.
On the surface, this ad really satisfies customer's hope for the environment thus it can capture their attention well. However, a new Toyota recall was announced recently, affecting some 2.3 million vehicles, just months after a separate Toyota recall that affected nearly 4 million cars. These shocking numbers used to be appeared in front pages of different newspapers all over the world. Reuters reports that the newest Toyota recall relates to a "dangerous acceleration" issue with Toyota cars and trucks. Though potential issues are rare, Toyota says they're more likely to occur after wear and tear on the gas pedal.
Even though this event have already been past a certain period, Toyota's reputation becomes no more that trustworthy among consumers. To the green crowd, though, Toyota is a turncoat. Their cries are reaching a wider audience as oil soars toward $100 a barrel and gas prices top $3 a gallon. Several environmental groups have launched a "How Green Is Toyota?" publicity blitz, which includes a letter-writing campaign they say has clogged the inbox of Toyota's top U.S. exec with more than 100,000 e-mails. In Detroit last month, eco-warriors stormed a Toyota dealership and draped it with a banner showing flag-wrapped coffins beside the slogan "Driving War and Warming." "Is Toyota really committed to being green, or are they just green scamming?" asks Rob Perks of the Natural Resources Defense Council. To defend its green street cred, Toyota last week rolled out its most extensive corporate-image ad campaign ever.
In terms of commercial itself, this ad lasts 34 seconds but only 3 seconds is distributed to the real car. The other time is used to describing the nice field and other natural scenery. Actually, the advertiser seems like avoid talking the reality but try to emphasize nice fantasy of nature. In the commercial, cars are made of sticks and mud. When the car is run down, it can go back to soil and become a part of nature again. Nevertheless, cars can't disappear from nature. They are made of metal and function by using gas which would definitely produce polluted emission to our environment. Besides, the tittle of this commercial it says " The worlds most environmentally friendly car" which sounds exaggerate and absolute to consumers. The language in ad has also been overstated. It's a common sense that cars can not reach the level of zero emission and zero waste.
The ads might already be backfiring. This week at the Los Angeles Auto Show, eco-activists from Freedom From Oil tell NEWSWEEK they are planning to target Toyota by playing off the ads' "Why not?" slogan. With banners strung from the L.A. Convention Center or waved in a Toyota press conference, the protesters say they will ask the automaker "Why not?" drop the lawsuit against California's global-warming law. Toyota's sharpest Congressional critic, Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, also is working the slogan into his broadsides. "They're saying they can't meet the 35mpg standard by 2020," Markey says, "and the American people are asking Toyota, 'Why not?' " Like so many of Toyota's critics these days, Markey is also a customer: He drives a Camry hybrid. But as friends turn into foes, Toyota is discovering it isn't easy being green while going for the green.
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