The creepiest commercial on TV these days comes from Toyota, pushing its Prius.
You've likely caught the spot, called "People-Person," which features an enormous man composed of a bunch of other people, with his nose formed by somebody's backside. The person disassembles into individual people who then get into a group of different Prius models.
It's reminiscent of the surreal dance company Pilobolus. But it's also reminiscent of a nightmare I might have after eating a pizza right before bed.
And, somehow, it's supposed to sell the Prius.
Here's the spot:
The ad agency behind it, Saatch & Saatchi LA describes the ad thusly:
"The spot is a triumph for production in its ability to tell a story using a variety of visual effects, some technology-based and other human-engineered. Parts of the spots were shot live-action using large-scale, custom-made props, including a toothbrush and toothpaste, shoes and a suitcase; others were shot on a miniature set depicting an attractive suburban neighborhood; and there were elements produced in a computer graphics environment."
There's no need to comment on Saatchi & Saatchi calling its own ad "a triumph." We can just chuckle and move on.
But let me make clear that if I was in the market for a new car, my first choice would be a Toyota (I've had Toyotas since the mid-1970s and continue to love my 11-year-old Camry). And a new car for me could easily be a Prius. I have friends with them, and they're great cars.
So, they have me already.
I'll also admit I'm not a fan of things like Pilobolus. Just because things are hard to pull off doesn't make them particularly entertaining – or "a triumph."
But I'll say finally that I don't understand how stuff like this sells cars. I know, I know, it gets folks to talk about it. I'm not convinced all that talking translates to sales.
What do you think about the Prius "People Person" spot? Does it creep you out, is it creative and does it work?
On TV: I won't believe it until a deal is done, but "Arrested Development" creator Mitch Hurwitz was talking this weekend about a new limited series of the former Fox sitcom and then a big-screen movie, probably in 2013.
- Although NBC's "Playboy Club" and "Free Agents" are tanking in the ratings, the early word is that they're not being axed anytime soon.
- Speaking of NBC, the network has delayed the season premiere of "Chuck" a week, until Oct. 28. Also premiering that night will be the new fairy tale-themed cop shop, "Grimm."
- Former NBC/CNBC financial anchor Erin Burnett's new "OutFront" debuts at 6 this evening on CNN.
- TVGuide.com interviews Lucy Arnaz about "I Love Lucy," which turns 60 years old this month. Lucy says she only appeared once on the show, sort of. "My mother was pregnant with me in the pilot — does that count?"
Six days until "6 Days to Air": Here's the trailer for the documentary coming Sunday night looking at how the "South Park" team puts an episode together:
Tim Cuprisin is the media columnist for OnMilwaukee.com. He's been a journalist for 30 years, starting in 1979 as a police reporter at the old City News Bureau of Chicago, a legendary wire service that's the reputed source of the journalistic maxim "if your mother says she loves you, check it out." He spent a couple years in the mean streets of his native Chicago, and then moved on to the Green Bay Press-Gazette and USA Today, before coming to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986.
A general assignment reporter, Cuprisin traveled Eastern Europe on several projects, starting with a look at Poland after five years of martial law, and a tour of six countries in the region after the Berlin Wall opened and Communism fell. He spent six weeks traversing the lands of the former Yugoslavia in 1994, linking Milwaukee Serbs, Croats and Bosnians with their war-torn homeland.
In the fall of 1994, a lifetime of serious television viewing earned him a daily column in the Milwaukee Journal (and, later the Journal Sentinel) focusing on TV and radio. For 15 years, he has chronicled the changes rocking broadcasting, both nationally and in Milwaukee, an effort he continues at OnMilwaukee.com.
When he's not watching TV, Cuprisin enjoys tending to his vegetable garden in the backyard of his home in Whitefish Bay, cooking and traveling.
