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2011 Toyota Venza Ad Warns Of Takeover By The Facebook Generation

By Richard Read
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Allyn Rachel in an ad for the 2011 Toyota Venza

HI-RES GALLERY: Allyn Rachel in an ad for the 2011 Toyota Venza

The new ad campaign for the 2011 Toyota Venza is chilling: a bleak, emotionless picture of post-apocalyptic America, full of Facebook and MacBooks. And Thunderdomes, too, we assume.

The clip features comedienne Allyn Rachel in what may be her first serious role to date. Sitting before a white laptop in a desaturated living room, Rachel extols the virtues of Facebook and prides herself on the accumulation of online "friends". 


Rachel also talks about her parents, whom she's forced -- possibly at gunpoint -- to join Facebook. She snarks about the fact that mom and dad "are up to...19 friends now?" (Smirk implied.) 

Mom and dad themselves have no voice in the commercial, no point of view. We see them in cutaways, fleeing the urban landscape with two silver-haired compatriots in a Toyota Venza. Reaching the end of the dirt road, they park the Venza and mount bikes, heading off into the wilderness, perhaps never to be seen again.  It's a little like the escape scene in Logan's Run, but here, everyone is waaaaay over 30.

Maybe this ad is meant to appeal to retirees who've grown weary of city life. (After all, that's the Venza's target market.) All we know for sure is that (a) it's a cautionary tale, and (b) it's a starker vision than the one presented in Saatchi & Saatchi's previous series of "Swagger" ads for the Toyota Sienna. It might be better, too. Have a look:

[via Marty]

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Comments (3)

  1. Crikey avatar A M Posted: 7/8/2011 2:45pm PDT

    These are great ads and Allyn nails it- she's great. She was in the Blue Man Group ad for Vegas.com too, she told CarrotTop "I'm Working!" Love her.
     
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  2. fb_627471887 avatar Dian Thomas Posted: 7/10/2011 12:13pm PDT

    I think you missed the point. The target audience (50+) is downsizing from family vans, SUVs and status vehicles to economical get-away vehicles.

    It pokes fun at the patronizing younger set that assumes it has a grasp of the retiree mindset. The fact that most of them don't get the joke just proves the point.
     
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  3. richard avatar Richard Read Posted: 7/11/2011 4:56am PDT

    Hmm. I'm pretty sure I got that. Perhaps my snark was a shade too subtle? ;)
     
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