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Toyota apologizes to ‘great city of Fresno’ In a not-so-shocking turn of events, officials in Fresno, Calif., have taken Toyota to task over the new Prius ad that makes fun of their city. And, for once, Fresno has come out on top. Toyota says it has altered the commercial to remove the reference to Fresno being “a low-budget tourist stop.” On Friday, Toyota vp Irving A. Miller issued an apology “to the great city of Fresno for this commercial.” And in a move that doesn’t bode well for the spot’s creator, agency 22Squared, Miller said, “We have implemented a series of controls that will allow us to monitor future local advertising to prevent this type of error from occurring.” This apparently means someone from the company will now watch an ad before approving it. Or it means Toyota can’t man up and take the heat for its own marketing decisions. —Posted by David Griner

November 10, 2007 in Griner | Permalink

Comments

Well, I don't know where you are from, but that is pretty funny if you ask me!

Posted by: Business Marketing | Nov 11, 2007 9:40:55 PM

Not cool to make fun of a city like Fresno, at least they have stuff. Make fun of Bakersfield. They have nothing, but cows. I don't live in Fresno, but I find it stupid that people make fun of Fresno, but they don't notice how boring and wack Bakersfield is. I don't live in Bakersfield either. I say go hate on some ghost town in the south.

Posted by: John | Nov 18, 2007 2:03:15 AM

FRESNO's COOL. Make fun of BAKERSFIELD. COW TOWN and SMOG U.S.A.

Posted by: James | Nov 18, 2007 2:05:13 AM

You'd think they [any marketing person involved in this decision] would understand the implications when starting out this endeavor, no matter where the locale. Perhaps they wanted to create publicity for Fresno.

Posted by: Kelly | Nov 18, 2007 8:22:46 PM

Come now, lets not make fun of Bakersfield. Where I wasn't born here, and what they are saying is true. I can still own a REALLY nice house and a large piece of property for under $200,000. Even though Bakersfield may suck, it is still in California, READ: two to four hours from anywhere that matters. LA, San Diego, Snow Skiing, Desert, Lakes, Beaches, Aquariums. four to six hours from San Fransisco, Las Vegas, Mexico, Wine Tasting, etc.
Like my wife said, when I first came here. (She WAS born here) The best thing about Bakersfield is you can always leave, and it is true.

Posted by: J Doss | Nov 24, 2007 6:39:39 PM

hi I have lived in Fresno my whole life and I think it's a shame that in the ad they don't mention the huge douchebag population that dwells here. Now that would have been spot on, I mean "low budget tourist stop" ...that's just generic and unoriginal. You could say that about nearly any mid-size city in America , we have douchebags here, lots. I wish they did some research.

Posted by: | Jun 2, 2008 7:19:13 PM

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