Toyota On The Hot Seat Because Their Trucks Are Good

Counter-terrorism officials want to know why ISIS dudes are tooling around in Toyota trucks.

Let me save you the trouble, US Officials.

Toyota trucks are good. I own one. A 2015 Tacoma. Love it.

If you are suggesting that Toyota is somehow in league with ISIS, (and it seems like you are) that's just so much bullshit.

Do they sell Toyotas in Syria? How about Iran? Iraq? Saudi Arabia? Turkey?

I'm guessing...yes?

That's where they got them.

Do you think Toyota execs are loving it every time an image of one of their vehicles is featured in the news with a band of ISIS dudes kicking up dust across the desert with a black flag and a 50 caliber machine gun in the bed? Naw...probably not. And I'm sure they frown on the way they overload the bed. You're not even supposed to ride back there!

Now, if Ford wants to jump in here, or Chevy, and make some counter-claim in their advertising, something along the lines of, "Terrorists Rarely Drive Our Trucks," that's probably fair game.

No foul here, America. Just a good truck.

Star in It , Point Repeatedly and Feature Your Son

These are the rules of local car dealership ads. Variations on these rules include: son may be replaced with daughter, dog or trophy wife. Business owner may be replaced with local model who wants to be an actress so she had a boob job and can read a cue card while she walks in front of a line of cars. Pointing gesture can be replaced with The Double-Point/Smile^TM .

Bonus points to Mr. Qablawi for sound effects usage.

Immitation is the Sincerest Form of Admitting You've Got Nothing

A local Ford dealer has decided that copying a popular Geico campaign will help them sell cars and trucks. I think not. A forgettable, regrettable effort on the part of Tropical Ford, but so sad that I jumped up from a reclined position to find it on YouTube.

Addendum: THIS is How You Do Social Media

In my last post, I lambasted local car dealer David Maus for his Star Trek outfit. I alerted my Twitter followers to that post. Someone at David Maus caught wind of that and responded.

Now, they could've gone the corporate route of, "@Jetpacks, sorry you didn't like our commercials. Please DM me and let's see if we can resolve this situation."

Instead they went with humor. Detractor de-fanged and diffused, slightly amused. Observe:

Now, if I'd been an actual customer with a legitimate complaint like, "David Maus screwed me on my trade-in," or "David Maus sold me a lemon," then I've no doubt that the social media team would've dealt with me differently, but  THAT, businesses, is how to handle the random rabble on Twitter and Facebook and in the commentariat of YouTube. There's no need to "engage" us. You don't need to provide a solution to the assholes like me who are only out to mock you. Joke with us (while getting a plug in for your product) and we're far more likely to forgive your goofy attempts at marketing and, who knows, maybe consider you the next time we need a new or used car.

The Balance Bracelets Complete the Star Trek Uniform

And a belt-buckle from outer-space. This is David Maus, an Orlando car-dealer who basically owns the airwaves. Every traffic and weather report on the radio is sponsored by him. Every game on TV is interrupted by him. And in his latest ads, featuring his dealership's coffee shop, he sports the freakiest get-up for a car dealer since the checkered blazer. The Double-Point/Smile^TM at the end is Dave's trademark.

He Designed The Template Shatner Ran With

That of an actor mocking his own gravitas...



Met him once in San Diego. I was a room service waiter at the Hilton. He was in town to do some commercials for a Mercedes dealership. He had a giant bottle of vodka in his fridge. As I recall, it was Smirnoff.

I'm Guessing It Was The Client's Idea

Dog, little girl, goofy costumes. This local car dealer is loading up on local car dealer stereotypes.

Expect it To Sell

A couple of teaser screen-grabs from a video teasing the new MINI coupe and convertible. The styling is faithful to the original, but infinitely cooler. Must be nice to work on this account. Unveiling soon at the Frankfurt Motor Show.


Seen at AdRants.

Can't Decide Between a Hummer or One of These

This little thing caught my eye last week in Miami. A dealer had the specs in giant letters on the side: "42 MPG, 70 MPH." Adding to the double-take factor was the price: $9,995.

It's nothing more than a motorcycle with a cab and a bed, but it seems to make sense as everyone frets over gas prices and affordability. I could see a fleet of these delivering pizza.

Mexican, South American and Asian city streets have been filled with three-wheeled vehicles for years. Nothing like a little recession to get us thinking smart.

The manufacturer's website.
An owner's website.

No Free Ride for Car Dealers

They’ve likely ripped you off by a few thousand dollars, and yet you allow them to stick some ugly nameplate on your car as you drive off the lot. At the very least, they try to mount a tacky black plastic license plate frame to the rear end, complete with the dealer's URL and phone numbers. Or vinyl lettering. Whatever. And off you go, advertising this dealer for free everywhere you drive.

Unless you work there, or have a friend or relative who works there, or in the unlikely case that you really did enjoy your purchase experience so much that you want everyone to know about your friends the car dealers, why are you offering your vehicle up as this dealer's rolling outdoor signage?

Insist that if your vehicle is to carry one of these, you expect to be compensated. Otherwise, make them take it off.

Hablamos Español - and English Too

Here's Earl Stewart, airing Spanish language ads on English speaking TV stations in South Florida for his Toyota dealership, attempting to appeal to the large Hispanic population of South Florida. Earl has seriously pissed off a bunch of English-Only types here, but he's loving the exposure as he's just interested in selling Toyotas. Expect to hear more about Earl in the future.



I don't know. We're living in the Great Melting Pot (which never really melts, it just lets its separate ingredients congeal in their separate corners), or as I prefer to think of her, Babylon.

You have to expect this, I think. After all, in addition to English, the California Driver's License exam is given in Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Chinese, Croatian, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Persian/Farsi, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog/Filipino, Thai, Tongan, Turkish, and Vietnamese.