Not really a reality check but stumbled across this today and found it interesting!

With the recent hot topic of BEAST and A-PINK’s endorsement of Skool Looks uniform clothing (to read more about it click Here) here’s another recent example of an advertisement that appeals to the demographic of Korean drama lovers.

The web series advertisement features over 4 episodes and has Hallyu star Lee Min Ho acting as the main character. It has a storyline that’s dramatic with twists typical of a real Korean Drama similar to City Hunter with it’s love story and face paced action. There’s no prize for guessing that the Toyota Camry plays a crucial role in the web series and appears in many shots designed to highlight it’s aesthetics and car features.

Alot of research and work went into this. The shots are well thought out and the cinematography is stunning. They’ve even helpfully subtitled it in English and Mandarin and also dubbed it in Vietnamese. (Three countries alone already :Vietnam, China and Korea they’re aiming at… not to mention foreigners who speak English….)

With lines in the script as below…

Yeah…. no surprises there, I mean what do we expect… we all know we’re watching an advertisement? The most likely reason we’re watching it is because it features our favourite actor Lee Min Ho (the same reason we watched the Skinny Baby MV in the first place). Although this time the product is a car which majority of the target audience won’t be able to afford until being at least in their twenties.

(Let’s be frank, a family man with 2.5 kids is going to chat with his mates and go see the car dealer. His first move wouldn’t be to stalk and research Lee Min Ho’s promotions activities and then watch 4 webisodes worth of Toyota Advertising to make his decision). Nonetheless I assume a shorter version will be aired and broadcasted on television so the concept in my opinion will definitely succeed with the market of people who are old enough to ponder and purchase a vehicle.

What about the young people then with and without licenses? Perhaps it’s to create brand loyalty where you associate the Toyota name with romanticised memories of being a KPOP fan girl or a beautiful love story with the drop dead gorgeous Lee Min Ho… eh? Too far?

Then again i feel like i’m abit narrow minded, this is actually the link to the main website and http://www.toyota.com/oneandonly/profile.html the promotion of the advertisement stylised similar of a Korean Drama seems to be everywhere. I’m extremely pleased and i’ll be even more stoked if one day I woke up and saw this advertisements running on my television :D They’ve genuinely used this concept successfully and it in no way feels like a parody or as if it’s been mimicked on purpose. (COUGH FACEBOOK OFFICIAL COUGH)

Toyota is a giant GIANT company and is a well known brand name and for ToyotaUSA to invest their advertisements into the concept of a Korean Drama is a huge risk and they’re taking a very spontaneous step (imo).

Well I think the concept was extremely clever, upscale and classy. Even the soundtrack sounds amazing! The story was interesting and if you’re a drama lover, you’ll enjoy it!

2012 Toyota Camry - The One and Only

Episode 1: Entune