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Fresno asks for Prius plant, gets humiliated
The new Prius spot by 22Squared takes a smug-but-fun look into a future dominated by hipsters driving hybrids. Two things seem to stick out. First, in the future, the pinkie salute is apparently neither a critique of your manjunk nor grounds for a road-rage bottle-toss. Second, the ad likens Fresno, Calif., to a gas station or a ghost town. (OK, so it likens gas stations to Fresno, but same difference.) Come on, taking a dig at Fresno? Sure, it can seem like a sprawled-out, soul-smothering expanse of urban decay and property crime. But does the Raisin Capital of the World really deserve an international company’s prophecy that the town will suck well into the distant future? The sad irony here is that Fresno spent a lot of time and energy stumping to be the home of Toyota’s first Prius plant in the U.S. Judging from this commercial, I guess the answer to that is a big fat no. Via Ads of the World. UPDATE: The story continues here. —Posted by David Griner |
Comments
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I have lived near and worked in Fresno and it is a sprawled-out, soul-smothering expanse of urban decay and property crime.
So glad to be gone from that horrible town.
It's funny cause it's true.
Posted by: Miguel | Nov 7, 2007 12:59:09 PM
The New Toyota Prius. The Car for Assholes.
That's what this spot is missing, although it's very much implied.
Posted by: Bobby | Nov 8, 2007 2:13:37 PM
Technically, Selma is the Raisin Capital of the World. It's a small town south of Fresno. Also, what the hell do you people know?
Posted by: JoeMama | Nov 8, 2007 6:54:08 PM
Miguel,
We are glad you're gone from our urban decay too because you are one of those pricks that brought Fresno down. Finally we have cleared most of you assholes out of town, so now we can enjoy Fresno in some peace and quiet.
Posted by: The Fresnan | Nov 8, 2007 8:42:34 PM
Hmmmmm... while the commercial overall is at least amusing, I'm not sure what Fresno did to deserve such a petty, pissy little backhand from Toyota.
Having lived in Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, Kansas City and scenic San Luis Obispo before coming to Fresno, I can say Fresno was a pleasant surprise. Sure, it could be better, but what city doesn't have room to improve? (Hear my opinions about the town at http://www.freethoughtfresno.com.)
The irony is, this ad is going to hurt children. How? Given that Fresno is downwind of all the smog generated by so-swank Los Angeles and allegedly green San Francisco, 20 percent of children here wind up with asthma and choke their way through their days and nights. Fresno would absolutely benefit from more people driving Priuses or similar. But I'm sure there's any number of people here who won't be buying a Prius just because of the ad, which means the kids here -- my son included -- get to cough that much longer for the sake of Toyota's pathetic joke.
The creators of that ad should be ashamed. ft
(Good catch, MS.)
Posted by: Farris Thorne | Nov 8, 2007 11:09:26 PM
fresno sucks.. coming from somebody who lives in fresno
Posted by: byaa | Nov 9, 2007 10:42:07 AM
Damn, knocking Fresno NOW is like reciting a knock knock joke and expecting people to genuinely laugh. I smell inside joke on this one, actually. The "creatives" that slapped this piss poor ad are no better than the people who write fortune cookie fortunes and that's what I'm most offended about, not the Fresno jab. How about you guys over at 22Squared come up some some better stuff and stop biting other agency's ads, huh?
Posted by: brodiemash | Nov 9, 2007 1:06:15 PM
I don't know anything about Fresno, except that it's a pretty large city, right? Why would Toyota want to alienate any potential customers? Very childish ad IMO.
Posted by: | Nov 9, 2007 5:30:18 PM
Hey folks... the war's over, and Fresno won. See today's Fresno Bee article at http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/188063.html .
Up yours, Toyota! ft
Posted by: Farris Thorne | Nov 10, 2007 9:54:21 AM
That really is a dumb commercial, and the comment about fresno wasn't very funny. If they were gonna make a jab at fresno they could have done a lot better.
Posted by: Amanda | Nov 10, 2007 2:03:00 PM
Irving A. Miller, group vice president for Toyota said he would "monitor future local advertising". Does that mean we wont see again but every other city with the same commercial will?
When the commercial did mention Fresno, they picture was of a grease covered guy. I guess we all look like that.
Posted by: | Nov 10, 2007 3:48:04 PM
How ironic everyone pokes fun at Fresno for being a gas station when Fresno is the birthplace of Pacific Ethanol, one of the largest ethanol companies, plus has done alot for solar energy and water technology. Isn't it bad enough we get everyone elses bad air?
Posted by: Barry | Nov 10, 2007 4:06:22 PM
Be sure to see our update item:
http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2007/11/toyota-apologiz.html
Posted by: DavidGriner | Nov 10, 2007 6:38:26 PM
Fresno is more a destination than tourist pit stop. I moved to Fresno in 1996 with nothing in my pockets, opened a sucessful busniess, met the woman of my dreams, purchased a big house in a new, safe neighborhood, filled the garage with exotic cars, met and befriended the most wonderful people on the planet. I can assure the rest of the country, the community of Fresno is a delightful place to live and visit. We boat throughout the summer and snowboard all winter. Spring and fall are spectacular for cruising on the Harley. All my friends from Los Angeles and the bay area love to get out of those cities to visit our little slice of paradise. In fact, we Fresnans open our arms to just about anyone ... except Toyota ... who can kiss our green butt!
Posted by: | Nov 10, 2007 10:38:42 PM
