The Kids Are All Right
By Mark Lang
It isn't often a teddy bear and a doll are pressed into service as crash-test dummies, but one spot, titled "Crash Test Teddy," in the new Toyota Sienna campaign gleefully straps them in. As the van hurtles toward the wall, a little girl with long, straight hair -- the owner of the toys -- watches fretfully, the look of horror growing on her face.
The irresistible force meets the immovable object, and the winner is ... the viewer.
"Toyota's head engineer -- I forget his name -- traveled all around the country and actually interviewed families," says Bret Ridgeway, creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi in Los Angeles. "His goal was to build the perfect family car."
The creative team's goal: to promote the improved safety features and child-friendly ergonomics of the relaunched vehicle. Since the Sienna was designed for kids, "we thought it would be fun to have kids design the Sienna," says creative director Matt Bogen.
In "Inspiration," three girls pedal up the entrance of the fictitious, Area 51-like Sienna Design & Assembly Center -- actually a former shuttle-project hangar in Palmdale, Calif. -- and one asks, "Are you ready to get started?" The girls take charge of the design team, insisting on cup holders, additional room for bicycles and three separate climate zones. "Put a TV there," one says, "and make it prettier [here]." Brimming with ideas, the kids even test the van's audio/video system, with individual headsets and screens.
The boys get their chance in "Kid's World/Dealership." In a showroom, a Toyota salesman and a customer discuss the Sienna's larger size (60 percent more cargo space) and come to an understanding about sisters. When they say the same word at the same time, the two boys scream out "Jinx!" (which, if memory serves, leads to the inevitable "Owe me a Coke"). A microcosm moment, it shows how the campaign captures the essence and fun of childhood, with its youthful exuberance and unlimited energy.
In "If Kids Ruled the World," youngsters live out their fantasies with the help of the Sienna. "I could bring my toys everywhere," says a girl. "I'd watch movies whenever I wanted," a boy says. "I would never have to listen to my parents sing �Magnet and Steel' again," concludes a girl, who puts on her individual headphones in the backseat.
"[The Sienna] has everything kids want and everything you need," says the Jeff Goldblum voiceover, reiterating the campaign's overarching theme.
Ridgeway and Bogen are pleased by the work's reception, and both creatives hope future Sienna advertising will remain kid friendly. In fact, Ridgeway, while acknowledging no decision has been made, would "bet money on it."
Don't bet on another "Magnet and Steel" reference, though. Walter Egan is a one-hit wonder for a reason.
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