Filed under: Car Buying, Etc., Marketing/Advertising, Scion
Scion's web persona gets a little deviant, and creepy
Scion's feeling that it's time for an advertising change, and they're taking the campaign dark. The Toyota offshoot, which is intended to attract young, hip, urbanites with an active lifestyle (whatever the hell that's supposed to mean), is attempting to harden the edge of its image.
We've been peppered from day one with Scion ads targeting fans of electronic music and hip hop, though we're more insulted than enticed by the pandering spreads that assault our irises in every new issue of Remix. Now the scope has widened to include rock and metal tinged customers. Scion's looking to team up with music events, bands, and record labels as a way of promoting its wares, but the real news is Scion's new website.
LittleDeviant.com has you being a "Deviant," with the mission of genocide. The city is filled with "Sheeple," beings that blindly follow (Camry purchasers?). Deviants are seriously bloodthirsty -- you need to complete various tasks such as throwing Sheeple across the city and a sicker version of whack-a-mole in which you juice the Sheeple like oranges. The site is quite well done, but the premise of the game is quite dark. In the end, gameplay is little removed from those flash-based novelties like billiards and golf, but if you're looking to waste some time on the web by bloodletting, Scion's got you covered.
[Source: Brandweek]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
bmoredlj 12:12PM (6/28/2007)
If you want to attract urbanites, stop making every next-gen Scion longer, wider, heavier, thirster, and harder to see out of. IMO, bigger is not better in the city.
The screenshot looks like its inspired by (or lifted from) A) PS3's Def Jam Icon, or B) Nike's "LeBrons" website.
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Allan 12:34PM (6/28/2007)
I was playing this the other day... it is definitely well done and kinda fun for a time waster. The only thing that strikes me as odd is that they go for this whole "deviant" thing with the boring little plain car... not that it would necessarily fit better with either of the other vehicles... but ya.
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Monkee 1:45PM (6/28/2007)
Am I the only person that found the "Kill the Sheeple" game a little disturbing? When did slashing/decapitating/hewing limbs off of conservative "sheeple" become entertaining? That is the message that Toyota/Scion is trying to send, right? That if you buy their xD you gain status as a deviant non-conformist refusing to follow other sheep. Toyota might want to rethink that ad campaign - for a manufacturer that sold over 2.2M cars in 2006 - it seems like they have a healthy following of sheeple already.
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iQuack 1:45PM (6/28/2007)
Clever game. More fun than fighting heavy traffic in a car that looks like a loaf of bread.
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Vectortrance 2:00PM (6/28/2007)
Scion has had a large and ongoing advertisement campaign with deviantArt.com, the web's largest art and design community. deviantArt users have been invited to participate in some of the creations as far as I am aware. So far their campaign on the site seems largely sucessful.
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Nellydesign 2:18PM (6/28/2007)
Ford of India has an ad containing a strange looking pile of x-shaped ice and a couple polar bears and they are accused of glorifying the "horrifying" impact of cars on the earth's climate. Toyota creates a game that basically says that people who don't buy Scions are conformists who deserve to die gruesomely, and we all think it's hip and edgy...
Wake me up when the double standards go away.
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Kendall Tawes 2:22PM (6/28/2007)
I just wish the new Scions didn't get SUV fuel economy. 22/28 mpg sucks in a Box Car of that size. I hope the new ones sale slower so they will bring some of their Japanese counterparts back.
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paul34 2:51PM (6/28/2007)
Lol, it's rather funny to see some people's reactions here. Are you all the same people who believe kids go on shooting rampages because of violent movies, video games, and 24?
Look, that's the demographic that they're trying to target. People like that just *might* like those types of games. And go figure, Toyota decided to appeal directly to that.
Is that so wrong? I hardly doubt that when you go in to buy a xD, you get a knife with your order as well, and then go around killing people. Come on guys, get your head away from the sensationalist and alarmist mass media broadcast. Free your mind, don't enslave it.
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c.h. 11:22PM (7/06/2007)
When I first saw this ad on Comedy Central I thought it was an ad for a show because I couldn't believe a commercial would be this violent and twisted. I really love dark material and animation and have nothing against video game type violence in the right context, but this commercial is over the top. I also find the symbolism disturbing and bizarre. Why would anyone want to be a deviant demon slaughtering people they perceive to be conformist or inferior? Isn't this kind of "destroy all who are different from you" mentality the LAST thing we need in this day and age?
iQuack 3:00PM (6/28/2007)
Truth is that the new Scion is a fine car, but it's big and heavy. It's mileage isn't even as good as a 4 cylinder Honda Accord!
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whofan 3:22PM (6/28/2007)
"I just wish the new Scions didn't get SUV fuel economy. 22/28 mpg sucks in a Box Car of that size."
So whats the point in not having a full size vehicle?
A big Impala would do as good if not better with safety, comfort, power, and room above all decent looks too. Oh I forgot a impala is not cool.
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Z 4:40PM (6/28/2007)
It's not. Just sayin'. The thing's the size of a bayliner and half as fast.
Den in IN 4:45PM (6/28/2007)
Toyota its self has a compagn going on where they try to convince us that anyone who doesn't purchase Toyotas are unthinking followers. It always struck me as ironic given the generally bland products they sell. Seems like a real thinker would want something different from the other 200k Camery drivers.
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willem 7:37PM (6/28/2007)
Japanese culture and history is replete with genocide and general disregard for human life, especially the gaijin. It's only fitting that they exploit this trait for commercial gain.
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Mike G 12:38AM (6/29/2007)
The smaller xD is small enough for a city ride and has decent mileage - you guys are aware that these new Scions are all 5 mpg lower than the cars you're comparing them to because of the new CAFE measuring standards on 2008 models?
Are you saying that a 2007 Impala gets 31 mpg? Um not likely.
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Prop_Blu 11:01PM (6/29/2007)
To Paul34 on No. 8
I am not some housewife cowering behind blinds afraid of the world.
I have quite the collection of violent games and I take particular glee abusing the creatures in God of War and dusting players in Unreal Tournament and Halo.
This "game" is not about competition or even retribution.
it's (proudly stated) context is slaughtering the "innocent"..
It took me about a minute with this thing to form my opinion not because I "heard it from the media."
My mind doesn't need freeing, it's free enough know the different between say...a UFC match (entertainment) and seeing someone beating a child to death (sociopathic behavior) .
I just wonder how the got floated? "NONONO! Really! You play a demon, and you just go around in your x-whatever gruesomely slaughtering sheep, Yeah! Yeah! Cuz the sheep symbolize all the boring dumb people following 'The Man,' and buying his lame boring cars, and... hmmm? Yeah I know that we are the No. 1 car maker and so that technically makes us 'The Man' but C'mon...It'll be cool!"
WTF?
Sorry I don't think you will ever be "edgy" if you an x? Scion. ...an installing a plasma screen playing footage of you feeding neighborhood pets to a wood chipper isn't going to help!
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Christian 1:02AM (7/02/2007)
This game/commercial is evil. Deviants/demons killing sheeple/people/christians in the last days. Give me a break. And no I am not overreacting. Read Revelation, Daniel and Isaiah from the Bible. This is not a game, this is last day stuff. If you see the innoccent slaughtered enough or the christians as bad guys long enough or the jews as bad long enough it will be no big deal when it really happens. What we take in, whether in books or video games, does shape our opinions, form our ideas and beliefs. This commercial/game may be on the surface an idea to sell a car but in reality it is to numb the public little by little so that when the true sheeple are really slaughtered it will be no big deal because they "deserve" it. This is evil stuff. Every decent person who believes that murdering the innoccent is evil should be offended. This game/commercial is straight from the pit of Hell and demonically inspired. We each must die someday. Do you know where you are going when you die? The penalty for sin, any sin is death. All of mankind has sinned. The real game is that Satan is destined for hell as it was created by God for Satan and his angels. God is not willing that any man perish. God is just and so the punishment for sin which is death must stand BUT He made a way of escape for man. He sent His own son Jesus to earth to live a perfect life as a man without sin so that the innoccent Jesus could die in our (the sinfuls) place. The innoccent dying for the guilty. Jesus said that anyone who comes to Him and believes that He is the son of God and calls out to Him to take their place, have passed from death to life. No matter WHAT you have done, you can call out to Jesus to take your place. He has already done so and says that whoever comes to Him, He will in nowise cast out. Jesus cannot lie, He is without sin. If you ask Jesus to take your place He will. Now you must turn from your sin and live for Jesus. Read your Bible and know the truth, and hear from Jesus how to live your life, what you must do to follow Him. Get into a church that actually reads the Bible and follows what the Bible says. Every man is appointed once to die and then the judgement. Right now, whoever you are, God sees you as a sinner, even if you are the nicest person on earth it only takes one sin to send you to hell. You know what you've done. You can be righteous/innoccent in Gods eyes, He provided a way for that to happen, and only ONE way. Jesus said, "I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life, no man comes unto the Father BUT BY ME. Call out to Jesus and ask Him to save you before it is too late. No man knows when their appointed time to die is, you must make the decision now before it's too late. Call out to the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness/wiping out your sins. He will do it. Now live for Him. Read His word, the Holy Bible. Jesus was prophesied to come from the beginning, He came and fulfilled every prophecy of His first coming and will come back to fulfill every prophecy of His second coming. You must be ready. Do not be deceived into believing someone else is Jesus Christ, get to know Him from His own words in the Holy Bible. Start with the Gospel of John in the new testament. God be with you.
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chris 11:15AM (7/02/2007)
Nice Volkswagen Fast rip-off. Come on give the public some credit here.
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Scioness 5:26PM (7/08/2007)
Wow. Taking it a little far. Its a CARTOON. COMMERCIAL. It's not illustrating a way of life. Perhaps you are not the intended target market and that is why you do not approve. But Scion is not aiming to please the mass market. Scion is a brand that you either love or hate. There is no in between. So if you Hate the ad, then you fit into the part of the market that Scion is not aiming at. Get over it.
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Nathan S 3:51PM (7/10/2007)
Yes, you are 100% right. This commercial goes beyond bad taste and crosses the line into demon theology.
The sheep vs. demon analogy is one of Jesus' major themes and can be found throughout the New Testament. in the Bible. He calls his followers "sheep" and warns us to beware of impostors; demonic wolves in sheep's clothing. This commercial shows a demon dressing up in a (murdered) sheep's clothing.
Are they asking for a boycott?
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