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Weird Toyota Commercials: From Toyota Jan to Invisible Drivers

If you have an internet connection and eyes, you might have noticed some interesting new commercials from Toyota. The Japanese automaker is promoting the 2015 Sienna hard, which means rebranding it from boring “minivan” to ultra-cool “Swagger Wagon.” But slightly odd commercials are nothing new for Toyota, which has been using “weird” as a way to make ads memorable around the world. Not convinced? Check out these weird Toyota commercials and you’ll see what we mean.

	Toyota Yaris Hybrid Singalong Commercial This was a recent discovery for us, and boy, were we happy to find it. Back in July, Toyota Europe released a commercial for the Yaris Hybrid which featured random drivers and their passengers singing karaoke while navigating the streets of Prague. Each street was renamed with a song title, and the stereo was hooked up to the GPS, so when the car changed streets, the song would change. They sang everything, from classics like Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” to more recent hits like Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out of Heaven.”
	Busta Rhymes Swagger Wagon Commercial Now this is one of the weirder commercials we’ve seen in recent months. A middle-class white family makes a rap video about their 2015 Toyota Sienna titled “Swagger Wagon,” which has a cameo from Busta Rhymes himself. The commercial is part-fascinating, part-horrifying, and we watched it at least five times (and then got the song stuck in our heads the rest of the day). Actually, we’re probably going to go back and watch it again right now. Don’t judge us.
	The Original Swagger Wagon Commercials Before Busta Rhymes got involved, there was a series of Swagger Wagon commercials featuring real families doing weird things in their Siennas. One commercial is a Vine compilation of the Eh Bee Family doing wacky things in their minivan. Another is the imaginings of one Action Movie Kid which turns the Sienna into a submarine. Finally, there’s a whole series featuring a talking Sienna that gets sad when its family won’t let it sleep in the tent on a camping trip. This is about as weird as it gets.
	Do the Wakudoki Gorilla Commercial Japanese businessmen. A truck. The jungle. What could go wrong? In this weird Toyota commercial, you’ll find out. One of the businessmen has to pee, so they all stop and head off into the woods to do their business, where they are rudely interrupted by a huge gorilla. As you might expect, this turns into a dance-off between the businessmen, the gorilla, and some cave people who randomly show up to join the party. Definitely one of the weirder commercials in Toyota’s repertoire.

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	Toyota Aygo Invisible Driver Commercial The Toyota Aygo is a small car sold in Europe, and the automaker recently redesigned it. As part of the campaign, “Go Fun Yourself,” Toyota wanted to play up the entertaining aspect of the vehicle, which involved enlisting the help of Rahat, an internet prankster. Rahat dressed up as a car seat and headed out in the Aygo. From the perspectives of other drivers and passersby, it appeared that the car was driving itself. The commercial was obviously staged, but that doesn’t make it any less amusing.
	“Reinvented” Toyota Camry Commercial This one is a couple of years old, but it’s up there with the weirdest of the weird. Just as Toyota has “reinvented” the Camry, the narrator suggests other “reinventions” that might work, such as pizza made from curtains or a cop who gives you a massage as he’s patting you down. Add to that a baby which doesn’t poop and doubles as a time machine, a couch made from scantily-clad human people, and a blender that plays Lionel Richie songs, and you’ve got yourself a pretty strange commercial.
	Muppets in a Highlander Getting Ice Cream Commercial Earlier this year, Toyota and The Muppets joined forces to promote The Muppets Movie, along with the Toyota Highlander. The original commercial aired during the Super Bowl and was a huge hit. Soon after, Toyota followed up with a commercial featuring Muppets Rowlf and Rizzo heading to the ice cream drive-thru and ordering a large cone and a worms and dirt milkshake. If that’s not weird, we don’t know what is.
	The Toyota Jan Commercials Where would we be without Toyota Jan? In the last couple of years, she has quickly become the face of Toyota in the US. And, when actress Laurel Coppock announced she was pregnant, Toyota decided to write that pregnancy into Jan’s storyline rather than writing Jan out of the commercials. Heartwarming, sure, but not really weird, right? After watching some of Toyota Jan’s pregnant commercials where she eats ice cream and peppers, we beg to differ.

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