Toyota Tacoma ‘Girlfriend’ Commercial is Classic Gem

By John Coyle - July 6, 2021

This low-fi Toyota Tundra commercial from 2012 shows you don’t need a giant budget to be memorable.

Thanks to streaming services and DVRs, it’s been years since I’ve watched commercials with any kind of regularity. But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a good spot when I see one, and this 2012 Tacoma commercial I recently stumbled across got me laughing. Titled “Girlfriend,” it doesn’t feature a ton of action, like this 1984 Australian Hilux ad, or high-production values, like this more recent New Zealand clip. Instead, it has more of a Blair Witch Project, low-fi vibe — and it works beautifully.

While it’s not quite a decade old yet, the image quality is marginal at best, and that’s by design. The footage is designed to look like it was shot with a camcorder, and the editing is deliberately sloppy. However, the performance of the lead here is spectacular. The actress tasked with playing the role of the titular girlfriend delivers her lines with palpable sincerity, and if it weren’t for the ending — which I won’t spoil here — I’d almost think that this was some kind of fake, fan-made commercial.

But as this contemporary write up on AdStasher shows, this is an actual corporate-approved advertisement, and it makes me wish the brass at Toyota gave their ad shops a little bit of a longer leash. Because given tools and different platforms available today, it seems like there a plenty of opportunities to exploit “real-world” style content like this, and it would probably be a lot more effective at generating awareness than another by-the-numbers commercial. That said, what do you think? Do you remember seeing this when it aired on television? And do you have any favorite Toyota spots I should check out? Hit me up and let me know!

Photos: YouTube