Corporate advertising is the art of telling, not selling. With this campaign, Toyota tells the story of their innovative products, environmental responsibility, and investment in America. This is one of numerous campaigns I created for Toyota, having worked on the account for seven years.
By now, most people know that Toyota builds vehicles in the U.S. More surprising however, is that they’re designed here too. Fun Fact: The clay model in the photo was supposed to be life-size. But when we got to the location for the shoot, it was what you see here. A very Spinal Tap moment.
It’s quite hard to make an ad about a factory enchanting. But when you work with photographers like Erik Almas and Bruce Davidson, it’s a breeze. This scored as one of Toyota’s most-read ads of all-time.
OK, so Toyota designs vehicles in America. And they build vehicles in America. But they probably just ship the parts over from Japan, right? Wrong. In this execution, we educate consumers about the many U.S.-owned parts suppliers that Toyota buys from.
It's not just Texas-sized pickup trucks that Toyota manufactures in the U.S. When it was announced that the Prius would be built in Kentucky, we leapt at the opportunity to shoot the hybrid amongst some thoroughbreds.
It's not just all about cars. It's about people.
True story: At the end of a long photo shoot in California, I took a taxi to the airport with the client. The cabbie struck up a conversation with us and asked why we had been in town. When I told him we were working for Toyota, he said, "Toyota is a great company. They hire lots of Americans and build more than half of their cars here in this country." The client was sure I had paid him off. Either that, or advertising works.
