Drive Your Toyota Avalon To The Sock Hop Today!

In response to the multiple crises that Toyota has endured over the last few months, it has given its advertising campaign quite the shot in the arm. Several new commercials have been released addressing the recalls and mechanical problems, as well as commercials like the one under the magnifying glass this week.

This particular ad focuses on the newest version of the Toyota Avalon; a somewhat upscale, family size sedan. The entire commercial is filmed like an informational video from the 50s; in this case, an old airline safety video.

The voiceover for the ad is in the stereotypical, fuzzy 50s narrator voice that most of us are familiar with, and everyone is dressed in era-specific airline uniforms. The purpose of all this being to stress the silence and comfort of the new car’s cabin as it “flies” through a peaceful blue sky and fluffy white clouds.

The whole purpose of imbuing the advertisement with a 50s atmosphere appears to be the invoking of nostalgia for a bygone, innocent age in their target demographic of middle aged white people.

Its interesting to note that this has been done quite a few times with the same intent, yet no one acknowledges the prevalent atmosphere of racism and emotional repression of that era. Having said that, the commercial appears to be bordering on satirical in its presentation, and the high production value is impressive. Ad is posted below.

The Double Death, er, Double Down Sandwich

Kentucky Fried Chicken has just released a new bunless chicken sandwich. Yes, you’re reading that correctly. A bunless sandwich. It seems a bit of an oxymoron. Or maybe just moronic once one finds out what it is they’ve replaced the bun with.

As you may have already figured out, KFC has replaced the bun of their new chicken sandwich with two giant, fried, boneless chicken breasts. Between the meat are two pieces of bacon, two pieces of cheese, and what looks like mayonnaise. Cardiac arrest sure tastes great! It’s tough to imagine how anyone could resist.

After looking up the commercial on youtube to watch it again (to make sure we saw it right the first time), one of the comments on the video said it best:

“This is what’s going to cause the government to regulate the fast food industry in a couple of years.”

Very few people would likely be surprised by that result, and it is a bit frustrating to have one more piece of evidence for the “why Americans are fat” trial that seems to be ongoing in the rest of the world.

Realistically, however, only a small portion of Americans will actually eat this deep-fried behemoth of a sandwich. Health consciousness has been on the rise in our nation; so much so that even the ubiquitously unhealthy golden arches is attempting to skew its menu toward healthier customers. If KFC doesn’t get the hint soon, it will fall far behind in the fast food marketplace. Ad is posted below.

P-P-P-P-P-P-Power!

Hello again! Truth In Advertising has been taking a little time off, but has returned to the blogosphere once again to discuss all the interesting, moving, or just ridiculous advertisements that catch our attention.

Most, if not all, of the advertisements reviewed at Truth In Advertising were ones that caught our eye in a negative way, so we thought it would be appropriate to make a change in the new year and start off with something positive. Now, don't get us wrong, the ad about to be discussed is by all accounts completely ridiculous, but its the kind of ridiculous that induces hysterical laughter, and that makes it alright by us.

This week we're taking a look at the brand spanking new Old Spice body wash ads starring Terry Crews. You may know Crews from one of his many hilarious movie roles, a la "Buffy the White Girl Slayer" from the movie White Chicks, Cheeseburger Eddie from the recent remake of The Longest Yard, or Damon from the Friday movies.

Crews brings the same kind of ridiculous, overly amped-up comedy to the Old Spice commercial spots, where he spends 15 to 30 seconds each ad screaming at you about how Old Spice blocks odor for 16 hours while flexing his giant pectoral muscles. How can we see his pecs? Because he's wearing nothing but tiny red shorts in every commercial.

The ads make absolutely no sense, and don't inspire one to buy their product at all, but they are endlessly entertaining. One of the more hilarious ones is posted below.