‘New Zealand Proven’ Hilux Spot is Amazingly Hilarious
This New Zealand Toyota Hilux spot proves automakers should make more funny commercials.
The island nation of New Zealand is most famous for its indigenous Maori culture, providing locations for Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings series, and it’s fearsome rugby team. But you might not know that it was also the first country to give women the right to vote, that it’s the first country to see the sunrise every day, and that Jedi is the second most popular religion for the folks affectionately known as Kiwis.
You would have known those facts, of course, if you had Googled “interesting facts about New Zealand,” like I just did. But I digress.
Now, dedicated readers of the blog might remember that shortly after I wrote a post suggesting that Toyota make a Raptor competitor, I actually discovered that a Raptor fighter was indeed available. But only in, you guessed it, the sole country where there are nine sheep for every person — New Zealand. So while this post doesn’t constitute the first mention of New Zealand on YotaTech in the last few months, it will likely be the funniest. Because when I went down a random YouTube rabbit hole the other night and stumbled across the funniest commercial I’ve seen in a long time.
In my opinion, commercials can be high art, and I still get misty when I watch this old spot for the Mercedes C Class. But I don’t think car commercials actually aim for funny as much as they should.
The best recent example I can think of is Volkswagen’s “Luv Bug” spot, which was racy enough I remain surprised it actually ran for pearl-clutching American audiences. And while VW’s Atlas plug was sexy and clever, this New Zealand ad for Toyota’s venerable Hilux features humor that’s more in the absurdist bent, and while it might just be the scary state of the world, I appreciated it immensely.
Of course, it’s a distinct possibility that there are more commercials in this vein running than I’m aware of. Because like most internet-savvy folks, I generally only see commercials in one of two ways. Meaning completely by accident, or completely by accident at gym. Regarding this spot, I don’t want to given anything away here, other than to say the motorcycle pass at the end makes it for me, and I hope you enjoy it. Hit me up if you do, or even if you don’t, and feel free to pass along your favorite Toyota ads!
Photos: YouTube