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We open on a family driving around the neighborhood in their new RAV4. Mom's at the wheel, Dad's riding shotgun, and junior is buckled in behind Mom. Next to him, in his rearward-facing baby bucket, is his infant brother, babbling away in full gibberish mode. Dad wipes some purple dust off the dashboard and it turns into Kaley Cuoco, a.k.a. the RAV4 Genie. She settles in next to the baby and asks if the family wants any wishes granted. Without skipping a beat—let alone screaming and slamming into the nearest telephone pole because a purple genie just materialized in her back seat)—Mom says she'd like to know what "her little guy" is saying. Now here's the genius part. Ready? Kaley magically makes him talk! A talking baby! Wow, haven't seen that idea before! And it turns out, he's on to them. He can "totally read that giant navigation screen" (navigation is available on select models only) even though he's facing backwards, so he knows they're just driving around in circles until he falls asleep. No wonder Dad looks bored to death. But l'enfant terrible livens things up with a giant SBD fart to cut the trip short and get them home fast so he can, what, get back in his crib and look at the ceiling? Buy stock on E*trade? All this silliness has been invented simply to make the point that RAV4 models have 6.1-inch screens, and, on some models, legible navigation functions. On its consumer website, Toyota lists Ford's Escape, Honda's CR-V, Nissan's Rogue and Chevy's Equinox as competitors. They all offer perfectly readable infotainment screens. What they don't all have is a standard backup camera like the RAV4, but that isn't even mentioned in the commercial.
Award-winning ad man-cum-auto journalist Don Klein knows a good (or bad) car commercial when he sees one; the Ad Section is his space to tell you what he thinks of the latest spots. The ad's rating is depicted via the shift pattern at the bottom, but everyone has an opinion when it comes to advertising, so hit Backfires below and tell us what you think, too.  from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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Bottom line? Toyota put a lot of effort and money—celebrity genies don't come cheap—into a mildly amusing commercial that touts a parity feature when it could have instead talked about something meaningful or unique in its class. And if you like the spot because it's funny, or Kaley Cuoco is hot, or you dig the song, that's fine. Or if you want to buy a RAV4 because it's a fully competitive and decent crossover, okay. But you probably want to avoid letting any babies fart or poop in it, because apparently the rear passenger windows don't go down. How sad—the RAV4 Genie can grant amazing wishes, but she has to ask Dad to crack the windows.
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