Toyota Venza commercial: ‘This is living’
ED’S NOTE: The commentary here reflects my interest in advertising as a marketing student. The opinions expressed here are mine and in no way reflect the opinions of my employers.
UPDATE 2-10-2012: Pew releases a new survey on social media users. Sixty-eight percent of 30- to 49-year-olds use social-networking sites.
RELATED! 9-11-2011: How Lady Gaga helped me get off Facebook
UPDATE 9-12-2011: Spotted on MSN
UPDATE 7-26-2011: Spotted on Yahoo
A new ad for the Toyota Venza takes a swipe at social networking sites. The spot is funny, a nice dig at 20somethings, but not entirely spot-on. 
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not one of these pedantic assholes who demands absolute truth in advertising; I believe in poetic license — even in business. It’s just that I’m a marketing student who gets 20 e-mails a day telling me who is using social networks and why, so I thought I’d show off a little bit and explain why it doesn’t reflect current patterns of social-network-site (SNS) usage.
In the clip, a daughter (played by Allyn Rachel) says she read “the majority of an article online” that said more and more adults are becoming anti-social, so she has been aggressive about getting her parents on Facebook. (They only have 19 friends — losers.) The ad cuts to shots of her parents enjoying their Venza crossover vehicle and mountain-biking with friends — presumably older adults — while the daughter stays home looking at puppies on Facebook. (“That’s not a real puppy.”)
As much as I’d like to believe in a world where old folks such as myself are joyfully cycling through the Santa Monica Mountains, it’s more realistic to believe Internet users older than 35 are just as glued to Facebook and other social sites as their younger counterparts.
According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Social Network Site survey, which was conducted on landline and cellphone Oct. 20-Nov. 28, 2010, more than half of today’s social-network users are older than 35. In 2010, 48% of Internet users over 35 were on a social networking site, compared with 18% of Internet users 36 and older in 2008. SNS use among those 18-35 grew to 80% in 2010, up from 63% in 2008. The explosion of older SNS users has put the average age of adult social-network users at 38, up from 33. It has also expanded the opportunity for marketers to reach these users — the ones with the most discretionary income — through social media.
Digital intel outfit eMarketer reported in June these users are also connecting with — or “liking” — more brands on Facebook. So if the spendiest (my word; it’s trademarked) consumers are swarming Twitter and Facebook, legacy marketing rules still apply: Message matters.
UPDATE 7-26-2011: Toyota Venza girl ad on Yahoo
RELATED: More on the girl in Toyota Venza commercial
My take on this — as in most “Madison Avenue” come-ons, the point of the commercial is not to reflect social-networking science but to stand drudgery-reality on its head, selling a “dream” of what life could be. Creators of the ad know that older Americans aren’t out mountain-biking; the ad resonates because it convinces us we’re missing something. To the rescue! this vehicle, the solution to a problem we didn’t know we had. GO FORTH AND LIVE. Also, the taunting of the “smart-alecky” younger generation is a sweet twist — further empowers the oldsters, even though cute-puppy discourse is a mirror on ourselves. Because who is a captive of the screen but the target audience watching the ad? I find the ad brilliant.
I’m a 50 year old and I am out mountain biking! Over 2200 miles this year alone.
Wow! 2,200 miles! That’s awesome! I wish more people were as active as you! A friend of mine just celebrated five years of being cancerfree with a 100-mile bike ride, but he usually rides 50 or 60 miles (or more) on Saturdays. And yes, he’s still on Facebook a lot. (That’s how I know all this.)
I like how when you go forth and live you post pics on Facebook and we can see.
Like the latest series from your walks! Gorgeous! xoxo
I don’t find the ad brilliant, if you only showed half of the commercial I wouldn’t know what the heck the commercial was about…
You have a good point: The brand could get lost in the banter, but people are watching the clip multiple times, so the name is making some sort of an imprint. Advertisers have to be careful when relying on too much wit: We’ll enjoy the punchlines but forget the product.
VERY funny commercial! I love the line about the puppy!
Everyone loves the line about the puppy. Most of my hits the past week have been for the ad that says, “That’s not a real puppy.”
Woof.
Hey all,
I am an almost 50 year old mother of 4 children in high school and I college. I have a professional degree, demanding career and active social life. I rarely find time to watch t.v. as I’d rather be engaged socially in a real world situation and not virtually. So for me to see this commercial is a long shot in the first place , but this one really speaks to me. The other night my husband and I came home from going to dinner and a concert to find three of the four children at home wondering where we’d been — one was on the PC in the family room, one on their laptop and the other texting and tweeting away.
I have shared this with friends and colleagues of a similar age and they have all had the same reaction. Do I remember this is a Toyota commercial? Absolutely..and I think it is great.
I find those Toyota Venza commercials quite insulting and offensive . That sort of advertising would not encourage me to consider any of their cars to buy. People 40 and older are not so decrepit that we can’t enjoy life after our kids leave the nest. We have much more energy because the kids are not draining us of our energy. You people need to grow up and think about the people who might be considering buying your cars. It is most likely those parents you depict as too old to enjoy life, and not those kids who think their parents lives are over just because they moved out. Quite the contrary!
Insulting, offensive. Strong words. I wonder what words you have left for the truly aggregious things out there.
Hey Carol, what are you talking about? The commercial (and the other Venza commercials) pokes fun of the younger generation and their “social” lives while the parents are out mountain biking and doing other things in real life.
This is why the younger generation pokes fun of the older generation because they are “always” misinterpreting things.
The real question is how parents who can afford that lifestyle could have such a stupid kid. . .
Money and education (and Toyota crossovers) don’t guarantee wisdom or even common sense …
I find the commercials quite insulting. It’s clearly made by people who have no idea what they are talking about because they’re too far in their own box to actually use the internet. It’s a compete straw-man of age 30 and under people aimed at flattering their 50+ audience (see these losers? You’re better than them and our car makes it so). This is somewhat unusual because you usually don’t want to insult anyone in your target demographic and 30- is certainly in it. The other issue that makes this first one significant is that they put these commercials on shows like Conan that are highly targeted at younger people. If you’re gonna insult us at least have the dignity to do it behind our backs…
So you’re saying the Venza commercial, which seems to target 40- to 55-year-olds, actually 30-and-younger somethings who might buy their other cars? Very interesting point! I can see that. … I’m getting ready to post another sort of “anti-social-media” ad that’s a bit different. I’d like to hear your thoughts on that as well. Thanks for stopping by!
BTW, I don’t think she say’s “losers” , I believe she is saying “how sad”…
I’ve also thought that she was saying “How sad.” I’ve had other readers say that, too. (I was just calling them losers to be funny.
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I think she says, “So sad.” And the ad is amusing, and so is the exciting commentary.
My readers — I love them all — but they have little attention span. They only want to hear her say, “That’s not a real puppy.”
You’re right, I watched it again, as I’ve done a thousand times and she does say “So Sad”. But as Jacqui says I just like hearing the last 2 lines.
I’m 56, live in Estes Park CO. I rock climb, bike, ski, snow shoe, hike and run. I go to the gym 5 days per week and love to be outdoors. I am into real relationships, not virtual ones. My dad is 81 and golfs twice per week. He walks 9 holes and rides for 9 holes. He still does all of his own yard work and loves the outdoors to. I can’t get my kids off of the flippin’ computer long enough to enjoy real living. Sure, I use my laptop, but I don’t live on it and post what I am doing every single moment. “I woke up today.” (post) “I have a headache today” (post) “I’m hungry” (post)
Sure, there are lots of couch potatoes my age, but plenty more 20 some people out there too. Don’t lump all of us older folks in one category please!
I believe there are certainly a lot of active adults, which was the ad was trying to illustrate, but the Pew study I cited in the post shows that the over-35 age groups are the fast-growing user base in the social media world. Is that to say that these users spend all day on Facebook? Not necessarily. But they are on Facebook (and Twitter and Pinterest), and marketers trying to reach these older users (consumers) need to tailor the messages to better persuade these potential customers to buy in.