REPORT: Toyota sued for pranking woman to sell Matrix
If you're trying to sell cars, perhaps it's best to not alienate or scare the daylights out of potential customers. Toyota has tried a few new approaches lately, and agency Saatchi & Saatchi may have thought it out-clevered itself with a faux-stalker effort for the Matrix, but it's landed both the agency and the automaker in legal hot water.
Amber Duick, a California woman who was seriously freaked out by a fake stalker named Sebastian Bowler -- no, we're not sure how it was intended to tie in to the Matrix, either -- has asked Toyota for $10 Million in exchange for the hornswoggling she received. Emails from the nonexistent Mr. Bowler so intimidated Ms. Duick that her work suffered and she made her boyfriend sleep with weapons nearby, just in case.
The whole punking came about by her opting in, Toyota's lawyers say -- as in, she asked for it. Sure, says Duick's own attorney, if you count an undecipherable and dubious online personality test forwarded by a friend as an actual opt-in agreement, instead of just a legal fig-leaf. The legal flap is going to take some time for both parties to work out or ride through the court system, but you paranoids out there can rest easy; Saatchi wrapped up this campaign last year, so it's on to some other internet silliness to push the Matrix now. Thanks for the tip, Martin!
[Source: ABC News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
arturo 2:42PM (10/18/2009)
I read this blog a few times and I didn't understand a thing.
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Andrew T 3:00PM (10/18/2009)
Read the link. it makes a bit more sense, but I dont understand how the Matrix is tied into this at all? They basically made up a person. this person kept pestering her, saying that they were going to "lay low" at her place. they sent video clips of the person causing havoc as well as a bill for damages caused at a hotel room. Makes no sense what-soever, unless im missing chunk of something.
Joe In Seattle 3:24PM (10/18/2009)
Um, yeah.. I have no idea what the heck is going on here with this article.. thank you.
Whitecollarcriminal 3:28PM (10/18/2009)
I'll never forget when Toyota pushed the Matric during the Matrix Reloaded commercials. That's the ugliest car i'd seen up till then and I find it hard to believe the woman isn't suing for being pranked to actually BUY one.
James 4:37PM (10/18/2009)
"Emails from the nonexistent Mr. Bowler so intimidated Ms. Duick that her work suffered and she made her boyfriend sleep with weapons nearby, just in case..."
Like a scene from the Matrix... ;p
Azael 4:48PM (10/18/2009)
Nothing about the Matrix makes sense, it looks like a Pontiac Vibe!
Temple 6:49PM (10/18/2009)
Autoblog isn't too informative in this story, probably because they left out crucial details in an effort to sound sensationalistic.
Here's the link to the ad in question:
http://adland.tv/content/what-750hr-buys-toyota-gets-punkd-effie-myths-and-cheers-dad-youre-awesome
Basically, its an ad to sign-up your friend for a prank- which I guess the friend of Duick did. You're suppose to opt-in, and sign a consent form from the ad-agency after which point you receive emails, viral-videos, etc. Duick is claiming she didn't understand the form she opted-into because they sent to her and it was unfairly "indecipherable".
So when she started receiving those viral-ads, she was so scared she slept with a "machete" under her bed. For her fear, and "mental distress" she wants $10 million. The likelyhood is she will probably get a nice settlement instead.
nrb 12:38AM (10/19/2009)
If you're not afraid enough to call the police, you're not afraid enough to get $10million.
HotRodzNKustoms 2:48PM (10/18/2009)
Well sounds like Toyota just lost $10M trying to sell 1 Matrix... and failed!
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F50 2:56PM (10/18/2009)
I also don't get it, in the end I thought Toyota lost 10 Million for getting someone to sell their Matrix.
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Monica Dickey 4:08PM (10/18/2009)
I don't get it but I love the PUNKD Matrix picture haha
Soccer Mom 3:06PM (10/18/2009)
(to Dan Roth)
English, motherf@cker, do you speak it?
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Dan Roth 6:32PM (10/18/2009)
You know, I've read the post a few times since all you guys started complaining, and I just don't understand what you're finding hard to follow. No, it's not the full piece, that's linked, it's a quick synopsis.
I dunno, maybe I've found the vein of remedial reading comprehension candidates?
Soccer Mom 7:25PM (10/18/2009)
Dan,
Thanks for your reply. The problem is you know what you are writing about, thus the article makes sense to you. By reviewing it, I doubt you will find any issues since in the context of the original article the synopsis is complete. To me (and I recon a few others), I had read it three times and still didn't have a clue about what really happen. Only after I had followed the link it started making sense to me. It's not that your piece is poorly written - all words are certainly English and grammar seems to be in check - but together your sentences don't paint any meaningful picture. The last two paragraphs make sense to those who know the story. However, on their own, they sound like a bunch of sentences pulled out of random parts of an original article with great deal information missing between them.
For us, fellow Autoblog readers, you have to summarize the story in a concise synopsis, so that by reading it we have a clear understanding of the situation. Yes, some of us are lazy to follow the link and get full details. For that reason alone, we rely on you to give us enjoyable read to brighten our daily routines such as looking at real-time stock charts and company news all day. We here for that reason - get a short story in 2-3 sentences to switch our attention from other issues without stressing out our simple brains. I hope it makes sense.
Cheers!
Yours trully,
Soccer Mom
AK 7:34PM (10/18/2009)
I think an article as bizarre as this one is extremely to summarize. I had to read the linked article 1.5 times to make sure I understood it properly.
Please provide an example of how you would summarize the article in the same number of words (235).
XJ 9:11PM (10/18/2009)
I didn't get the headline either. It sounds like she already owned a Matrix, and Toyota was pranking her to sell it. (That would have been an even bigger story.) And then the rest just confused the hell out of me. The source article made a lot more sense though.
click_playaz 3:00PM (10/18/2009)
I dun get it...
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Tool 3:05PM (10/18/2009)
Sounds like Ms. Duick was off of her schizophrenia medication.
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Trent 3:09PM (10/18/2009)
It was a pretty hard article to follow? I do like the photo of the Matrix..
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Steve B 3:12PM (10/18/2009)
I have to agree with everyone else, I don't even understand what the point was. I can't believe anyone at any company could think that this was a good idea. I'm perplexed.
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