Cryptozoology Viral Ad or Sushi Anyone?
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on November 22nd, 2005
In a previous entry I talked about viral marketing being used with a cryptozoological theme. I found another one for a Chinese market Toyota. While some viral ads are actually hoaxes, this one was an approved Toyota ad.
In this ad for the Toyota Vios, a creature resembling a giant squid or octopus or some kind of many-tentacled beast uses the car to bait an unsuspecting jogger.
Fish or cut bait indeed…
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Could this really be considered a viral ad? If you consider viral ads as “buzz-generating advertisements whose content is unsuitable for traditional media (such as television), distributed through “unofficial” channels such as web sites,” there’s nothing viral about this spot. Also, it is pretty clear that this is a commercial and the connection between the company, the product, and the ad itself is quite clear whereas some viral ads try to obscure the connection. Regardless, that’s a funny commercial.
The ad was mentioned in the following article in the Detroit Free Press:
Sometimes marketers’ ads start out as traditional commercials overseas, but take on a life of their own once they’re circulated on the Web. Recently, an overseas Toyota Motor Corp. commercial in which a Loch Ness monster-like creature gobbles up a jogger who’s attracted to the life-sized poster of a Toyota Vios that the creature uses as bait, was released online. The Vios sedan was designed for the Chinese market.
Mike Michels, a Toyota spokesman, said he hadn’t even seen the commercial before a friend e-mailed him the spot. However, he added, “It was an approved Toyota ad.”