I have viewed a few of the new Toyota commercials where the owner destroys his or her old Toyota (at least I think it's a Toyota) in order to buy a new one. The first thought that came to my mind was "This spells trouble." As a public relations professional and instructor I thought this would make a great case study for one of my PR classes. Aren't the ads encouraging viewers to commit insurance fraud? Then I thought, I would hate to be in the public relations department at Toyota. Well, behold, an article in today's Boston Globe Business section (12/19/07) publicizes the issue. I’ve included a link to the article in case you want to read it.
According to the article “Insurers complain ads from Toyota incite fraud,” by Globe staffer, Bruce Mohl, the ad has caught the eyes of the Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts and the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. These groups say that “the unspoken message is that an insurance settlement from the old car will help pay for the new Toyota.” The article states that both of the above groups have sent letters to Toyota. A Toyota spokeswoman stated that the ads “were meant to be humorous and, not to be taken literally.” She added that they would review “letters of protest,” and possibly change the ads or include a disclaimer.
Faced with a public relations problem, this statement is probably the best Toyota can do in the short run. As I see it there are really two things wrong with this ad. First is the obvious. Insurance fraud is illegal and you would think the Toyota ad agency executives or the company’s advertising department would consider this issue. When creating this campaign didn’t anyone say, out loud, “What would happen if someone actually did this?” This would be a PR nightmare!
`The other issue is branding. I have always thought that Toyota prided itself on the longevity and the resale value of its cars. I know people who have driven Toyota cars well beyond 200,000 miles. I guess the commercials wouldn’t be as funny if the owners actually went to the Toyota dealer and traded the old one for a new one.
Once again, this situation places PR in the position of being an advertising fallout “pooper scooper.” I don’t know to what extent Toyota’s public relations staff was involved in the creation of these commercials. But this illustrates the need for public relations and advertising to work together on ideas that might be funny, but also might damage the company’s reputation a little. It’s a clash between creativity and reality. As far as I know Toyota has always had a good reputation. I hope this isn’t a case of “bad publicity is better than no publicity at all.”
As of today, I couldn’t find a response on Toyota’s Web site (www.toyota.com). If this issue has received extensive coverage, a response should be posted as soon as the company figures out a next step.
If I were a PR executive at Toyota I would suggest they pull the ads and do more brainstorming to create ads that uphold the reputation of Toyota as a car with good resale value and don’t “suggest” illegal activities. Come on Toyota ad people, you can do it! You've got a great car to work with!
Read the story in the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/12/19/insurers_complain_ads_from_toyota_incite_fraud/
The Insurance Fraud Bureau of Massachusetts Web site: http://www.ifb.org/default_java.htm
The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud Web site:
http://www.insurancefraud.org/
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