What We See: This spot tracks a woman named Amy Purdy as she goes from one physical challenge to another, including running, snowboarding, dancing, modeling atop giant stilts, mountain biking, stuff like that. The camera work is exciting and heroic, portraying Purdy as a confident, dedicated athlete who won't quit until she gets it right. The fact that she has prosthetic legs heightens the impact and provides some dramatic visuals. Intercut with Purdy's activities are shots of her driving a Toyota Camry. This is all set to Muhammad Ali's "How Great I Am" speech, recorded just prior to his Rumble in the Jungle with George Foreman in 1974. Ali's words and cadence are dramatic in their own right: "I done wrestled with an alligator, done tussled with a whale." At the end, both soundtrack and visuals culminate in a common message: "I'm gonna show you how great I am." The spot links the car into this sentiment with a final product shot and the super that says, "The Bold New Camry."
What We Think: Move over Lynda Carter, America has a new Wonder Woman. By all accounts, Amy Purdy is a truly remarkable human being. When she was 19, she contracted a particularly nasty case of meningitis that resulted in severe organ damage and the loss of both of her legs below the knee. She was given only a two percent chance of surviving, yet a year later she was snowboarding. Competitively. At Sochi, she copped a Bronze in the Paralympics Snowboard Cross. She's also a model, a successful businesswoman, and a motivational speaker, and she dances well enough to be a finalist on Dancing with the Stars. It's hard to imagine a better spokesperson for any product. And then there's Ali. He brashly set the bar high and cleared it with authority. Together, they're a dream team that oozes confidence and boldness, and Toyota is counting on their images to rub off on the Camry. So will it? Not to the buyer who wants product specs and facts (so, most of you), but to the car-as-appliance, "my car reflects my values" buyer, of which there are millions, it's bound to have a positive effect: Look what Matthew McConaughey is doing for Lincoln.
Rating: Four out of five
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Award-winning ad man–cum–auto journalist Don Klein knows a good (or bad) car commercial when he sees one; this is his space to tell you what he thinks of the latest spots. The ad's rating is depicted on a scale of one (terrible) to five (transcendent), but everyone has an opinion when it comes to advertising, so hit Backfires below and tell us what you think, too. And be sure to read more of Don's advertising critiques here.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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