Following several years of building dependable, affordable, yet almost utterly soulless automobiles, Toyota is trying to get back to creating and market cars with a sense of joy and playfulness. After all, it’s a waste to treat driving as just going from Point A to Point B in the dullest way possible instead of the fun journey it has the potential to be.
That’s why in its newest commercial, Toyota is invoking the spirit of adventure with a fleet of yellow hybrids running about the countryside with the musical accompaniment of one of the most instantly recognizable pieces of Final Fantasy music ever composed.
Japan’s biggest carmaker just introduced a new grade to its hybrid Aqua line, known as the Prius c internationally. While the packaging priorities of the Aqua are clearly efficiency and utility, it’s actually got a pretty sporty-looking front fascia for its segment, and the wide variety of bright hues the model comes in allows buyers to express a little more of their individuality than the typical bland color choices of most hybrids. For example, you can spec your new Aqua in an eye-catchingly vivid yellow.
Of course, you’ll catch even more eyes if you travel in a caravan of cars in that color. And if you want people to pick up their ears, too, why not make your musical accompaniment Final Fantasy’s “Chocobo Theme?”
With the melody that fans have become accustomed to hearing over more than two decades of riding Final Fantasy’s flightless birds playing in the background, the Aquas scamper along a dirt road running through the plains and over hills. Since Final Fantasy VII, the active party has been limited to three adventurers, so fittingly that’s also the number of cars out for a drive together.
▼ Do they run off a mixture of electricity and Gysahl Greens?
▼ When the camera pulls back to a wide shot, things start to look even more like an RPG overworld map.
Other cool little nods to the game include license plates that list the “chocobos” as having 3,726 hit points and a black chocobo, rarer than the standard yellow breed, hanging out in the grasslands.
Toyota has also run Aqua commercials using music from the Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter franchises, which first appeared last December. The Chocobo commercial was made to promote the new, top-of-the-line X-Urban grade, which the commercial describes as the “off-road Aqua.”
However, Toyota’s website doesn’t seem to show any performance upgrades to the X-Urban other than larger wheels, although the examples in the commercial seem to navigate the video location’s dirt roads with no problems. Still, it seems like an odd move by Toyota’s marketing team to tout the X-Urban Aqua’s off-road prowess, when it’s clear the more attractive sales point, as also demonstrated in the video, is that just like with their in-game inspirations, travelling by Chocobo Aqua apparently makes you impervious to monster attacks on the way to your destination.
Source: IT Media
Insert images: YouTube/toyotajpchannel (edited by RocketNews24)