I caught the end of this commercial the other day, and had planned to search for it online. Fortunately, Trent mentioned it today in his own post, Commercials, Kids and Materialism.
As you can probably guess, I’m not a big fan of the commercial. For the first nine years of my daughter’s life I drove her to school in my 19 year-old, faded work van without a radio or working AC and heat. I’m sure it probably embarrassed her, but she never voiced it.
In fact, we adorned that old van with “Debt Free” stickers and laughed at people who made fun of it. By six she was telling her friends, “Oh yeah, well how much is your Dad’s car payment!” Start ‘em early! After all, I’d rather be a member of the “Geek family” than the Broke family.
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I just saw that commercial for the first time last night. I thought the same thing as you did. Ridiculous and sad!
I saw that commercial in DC when I was traveling. I told my friend- “that would never fly in my area”. Sure enough- it does not air in Kansas. Frugal, employed and solid- the midwest!
It airs in Kansas … I’m in Topeka and I have definitely seen it, several times in an hour, actually. On local and cable channels. More so on the local channels.
Interesting- since I watch Topeka local channels and have not seen it here. We must have very different viewing habits.
This is the first time I’ve seen the ad. I agree with you, it is very sad.
Unfortunatly, there are kids like that boy in the commercial. As a child, my niece had a friend whose parents were well to do. She told my niece once ‘you can have anything if you’ve got the money’. They were about six at the time.
Oddly enough, just after setting up this post I was taking in a little Thursday night football when I saw yet another Toyota commercial with the same actors. It was a little shorter, but no less ridiculous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgQZBXHyNIg&feature=related
I saw this version of the commercial myself a few nights back as well. Agree with everyone else. When i was a kid my parents drove an older model Mercury marques and it was paid for. No car payments. We took road trips and my sister and I loved it. We read books, told stories, best memories. To use kids to push this BIG CAR PAYMENT or Worse CAR LEASE is horrible. Great post.
Toyota I have news for you. You are not an American company regardless of what your ads say. I lived in Japan a year…does that make me Japanese? I was in Vietnam for 15 months…am I now Vietnamese.
Your cars are assembled in right to work states (mostly southern) where the minimum wage is around $5.00 per hour, and your company requires that you not belong to a union. Where do the majority of your profits go? Japan!! There are only 3 American car makers…the big 3: Chrysler, Ford and General Motors. Your spinmasters saying you are American does not make it true. You are a Japanese Automotive company!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We saw that commercial & the first ting outta my son’s mouth was “that van is only good if they paid cash for it.”
The commercial really miffed me & lowered my opinion of Toyota especially given their reputation for long lived vehicles.
I was appalled when I first saw that commercial, too. It seems inappropriate both in general and considering the economic conditions in the US – a culturally tone-deaf commercial if I ever saw one.
Crazy that they are aiming that towards kids and making them discontent with what their parents have. I looked the Highlander up, it starts at 27K which means if you really wanted to get some features it would probably run around 35k. I ran the calculations, 35k for 60 months at 5% interest is $660 a month. Are you kidding me? That is $2 more than my mortgage payment! And why would I want to do this? So I am not a geek? I don’t think so! I’ll take being a geek and debt free anyday!
Bernice
http://bernicewood.wordpress.com/2010/10/28/the-perfectly-imbalanced-life/
This blog (and that commercial) just inspired my “million dollar idea.” When my product comes out sometime in the next year, I’ll send you the first one. Thanks for the inspiration.
Wow – that’s a ridiculous commercial. I love your story about your daughter though! I agree with you – I’d rather be geeky or frugal than dumb and broke.
I tweeted about this very commercial/message the other night – I wholeheartedly agree, it is a terrible message to send to anyone and Toyota should be ashamed, should take down the ad, and should apologize.
The greatest blessing in life is to have peers and friends who share your values. I am honored and feel so incredibly lucky to have had friends who share my hatred of consumerism and waste, both for what it does to the planet and to the souls of those it consumes.
But when you’re six, this usually isn’t possible. Good on you, teaching her to stand up to those who are wrong. Perhaps she may even lead by example them to question the consumerism that is interwoven into our culture.
Forgot to mention: it disgusts me the way they try to manipulate us by controlling our children.
I hate that commercial…
What ever happened to a kid reading a book by the way?
You are so so so awesome! I have unsubscribed from so so so many PF blogs because they have become so gimmicky. Please don’t ever change. Thank you for another great post.
As always, thanks for the link love.
And yeah, that commercial perfectly depicts the evil push of consumerism on our culture and especially our youth.
I normally don’t pay any attention to commercials but this one caused me to look up from my laptop. I could only think what my Dad would say if I acted like that kid: “You can always walk…”
I saw that commercial… kid needs to loose the attitude and wait until he gets a job before complaining and disrespecting his parents. Horrible commercial.
This commercial made me laugh. It was done in a way that made me think at first “Hi, I’m a 9 year old kid and I will tell you *(the other 9 year old kids) what car should you choose for your family”
Of course we all know, that 9 year old kids have the most to say about what car to choose
I was so put off by these commercials that I have contacted my local Toyota Dealer, and Corp. offices. We have a 2008 Prius and a 2003 Chev. and also have just purchased a 2010 Bmw. ( The BMW might not be the smarts move we have ever made, but we are at a time in our life we could purchase a car that was just because, we have always want one, and got a great deal also.) But for Toyota to put this commercial on the air really upset me with Toyota. Please let everyone know your feelings..
Amen to that. I taught my kids that it is important to use what you have been blessed with in a wise manner. They learned their lesson well. How do I know?
I’m divorced. When the kids visit their dad, he and his girlfriend whine about being broke. My kids give them pointers. What advice could teens share? -Well, they advise them to not eat out every meal of the day.
-They also tell them to shop generic brands when possible.
-My kids have even told them to try to run all there errands at once to conserve gas. Do the adults take their advice? Nope. They hear, “You’re just like your mother.” Great! Why? It’s not bad for them to be frugal and wise with their possessions and finances.
I tell them it’s ok. Not everyone is going to appreciate good advice. At least they tried…
It’s no secret that lots of adults want to be viewed as “cool” by their kids or kids in general. I guess I’m not outraged by this commercial because commercials are supposed to exploit people’s feelings to make them want to buy a product.
The simple way to get around this is one that I imagine most reader of this blog already do– stop caring so much about image. My parents never cared as the cars they drove were way high on the geek factor. We had this fire-engine red Ford LTD station wagon. People honestly thought it belonged to the fire department. I was in middle school. Other kids commented on it, but I think it kind of amused my parents that they were embarrassing their kids. BTW, there’s a great bumper sticker for you frugal folks with less than hot cars: “Don’t laugh, it’s paid for.” Bet a lot of people with Highlanders can’t say that!
@Emily
Love that bumper sticker. HILARIOUS!
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Gee, I was in high school before we had a car younger then me,then we inhereted them, and in the last 22 years of driving I’ve gone through 12 cars, two of then new, and spent less then a highlander total, some for as little as $50, had a $75 truck for 4 years and a $500 VW for 80,000 miles, also had a $100 Saab last 2 days, currently 8 years on an $8000 Accent,
Just go to any High school and look at what is in the parking lot, mostly new or a few year old cars in student parking, 5-20 year old in teacher parking, The driving school here has a BMW to teach kids to drive in,
Have you seen the VW commercial about the guy working a million extra jobs to save up for his new car, only to have the price be so low he can afford two new cars? I love that one. My husband and I both commented that it was the first time we had really seen a commercial advertising the idea of working hard to get what you want.
I have seen that one, and I like the message of working to save up for his car(s). He could have skipped all that work and ran down to sign up for a zero-down lease.
This one bothered me on a lot of levels – the tone-deaf message, the kid’s attitude, etc.
This commercial is soooooo sad and really makes Toyota look bad. It makes kids be overly materialistic and for those whose parents can not afford the new car makes them feel embarrassed. Sick commercial and shame on you Toyota.
I love the commercials! They are obviously not geared towards the kids in the family. They are speaking to the parents. And let’s face it. Don’t we as parents wish we could buy a brand new minivan that is “cool”. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t purchased one, and YES we drive two vehicles that ARE paid off. But come on the commercials are meant to be funny – frugal or not – they are funny! And by the way, my husband’s parents drove a beat up van for many many many years, and he doesn’t think twice about it. And yes, we WOULD LOVE to buy a new Sienna, but right now, WE LOVE having no car payments more! Advertising is meant to catch our attention and obviously it caught yours!
Watch the four episode documentary at freedocumentaries dot org called “Century of Self”.” It tells the untold and sometimes controversial story of the growth of the mass-consumer society. How was the all-consuming self created, by whom, and in whose interests? The Toyota commercial is not aimed at us frugal types but the population at large. The study groups that do the marketing know what sells.
What a strange commercial…. I guess it’s memorable and distinctive, heck it even got you to write a blog post about it, but at the same time, what a negative message to send…. that you need to buy a new car to impress your kids. Thanks for sharing – I’ll definitely be passing this on to my friends as a ”what were they thinking” kind of commercial.
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I was in shock when I saw this commercial. What is Toyota thinking? Are they TRYING to lose business? I found this so offensive that I will not buy another Toyota again until they apologize. First, all of the quality issues plaguing Toyota and thr massive recalls, and now these horrid, offensive commercials. Toyota needs to clean house and hire some real people. This even came up at a party last night and people were equally in shock. What are they doing to a once wonderful car company?
Yes. It’s sad when people want things that I don’t want. My value system is better than yours.
Funny that I saw it again last night and thought to myself how much I disliked it for all the same reasons. I wondered if people were going to be blogging about it and then I saw this! Blecchhh – Toyota!
There’s a second one out now too – I saw the last half of it last night.
I think it was a kid hiding as school got out & then diving into a late model station wagon when he thought no one was looking.
I agree, the first time I saw this little brat I was shocked! Its bad enough people can’t afford food/clothing, we now have to feel bad about our “used” cars!
And I drive a Toyota!
It sends a terrible message to children. Just another reason for a child, that’s driven around in an old car, to get picked on and bullied in school. There are families out there that are poor live check to check and cannot affort a new car. Imagine how they must feel when they see this commercial. Not only do they feel bad that they can’t afford a new car but they have to worry about how their child must feel. These commercials are terrible. It’s advocating materialism. No wonder children get picked on and bullied in school. And it’s not just words, it’s physical abuse to the point that children wind up in hospitals due to the injuries they obtain from bullying.
I was so happy to read all of these comments and see that most agree with me, I was frustrated when I first saw this ad and get more agitated each time it airs.
If Toyota thinks I’m lame for trying to do everything I can for my child (and working very hard for what I give my child) then I’ll make it a point to never purchase a vehicle from them. I would rather be LAME!