Why I Hate Commercials Part 1- Miku + Corolla

Commercials nowadays really suck. In my opinion, commercials (or television advertisements, whichever terminology you prefer) are simply meant to display their products to the masses via television, the internet, or other mediums in a video form. Recently, I've come to notice that commercials no longer give logical reasons as to why their products should be bought. Instead, they give lame reasons or no reason outright. They often act only to make potential consumers remember the product, regardless of the impact the commercial has left on them.

There are a lot of commercials that I dislike, so I'd like to make a little blog series on this over time. To start off this series, I am going to be talking about a somewhat recent string of commercials pairing together the Toyota Corolla and Vocaloid Hatsune Miku. So, if you want to learn more about this pairing, hear my thoughts of it, or simply see some commercial advertisements, then hit the jump and prepare for two "big dreams" combined.

For those who may not be familiar with either of the products, the 2011 Toyota Corolla is the newest model of the Corolla line of compact cars. Hatsune Miku is a computer program in Crypton Future Media's "Vocaloid" line of programs. These programs allow users to string together sound files for the purpose of synthesizing singing. Now, for what reason would a computer program and a vehicle be advertised together? Well, obviously because both Toyota and Crypton Future Media want a profit... but aside from that, neither products relate to one another. So, without further ado, here's the first advertisement that premiered in May 2011:

And yes, if you do not know, that blue/green haired girl is Hatsune Miku. Even though I consider this commercial to be a minor offender of being stupid, there are still several things that bugs me about it. First of all, this commercial is supposed to appeal to Americans. Although I realize that both Vocaloid and Corolla are Japanese products, this commercial is voiced over in English and is displayed up front for North American audiences. So, knowing this, who are they supposed to be appealing to? Most commercials try to appeal to an audience so that the products ACTUALLY get purchased. However, I don't think that they are trying to appeal to Americans simply because not many Americans understand Japanese. I'm also not too sure that they are trying to appeal to Otaku, either, since many Otaku spend their money on video games, anime DVDs/Blu-Rays, figurines, etc. They probably don't have all that much finances to drop on a 2011 Corolla.

Also, I can't understand why they animated Miku to be actually driving the car. Similarly, I get baffled by the fact that people are acting on the side of a red carpet to take a "photo shoot" of her as she "arrives" for a concert. In case Toyota forgot, Miku is a COMPUTER PROGRAM. Perhaps the commercial producers thought that people were interested in Miku because of her "live" concerts (Click here to see an example of one). Perhaps they're right, too. Maybe Miku is best known in Western countries for her on-stage performances. When the actors seem like they know about Miku and are taking a lot of pictures about her, it gives off the impression that she is already a big thing outside Japan. She isn't, however. It serves to isolate people who know nothing about Miku (which is a HUGE helping of Westerners), and doesn't help to spread knowledge about her to a more Western audience. I feel as if the commercials are only trying to reinforce North American fans' interest in Miku, but fail because the commercials make it seem foolish, with the actors talking to someone who isn't really there.

There are several more Hatsune Miku + Corolla commercials floating around on the internet, but if I post them all and write about them, this would be an extremely long post and I'd be up all night! So, instead, here are some links to more of the commercials. Check them out if you'd like!

"Beauty Nap"
"World Is Mine Flash Mob"
"Chitchat"
"Hotdog" (Sequel to "Chitchat")
"Render Room"

Personally, as a fan of Vocaloid and as an Otaku, I almost feel insulted that they're trying to use Miku as an advertising device to sell an unrelated car. While I appreciate Crypton Future Media trying to expand Miku out to Western cultures, I don't think that this is a good way to do it.

What do you guys think of these commercials? Are there any commercials that you feel misrepresents one of the advertised products, or any that you simply dislike? Leave a comment of your thoughts! It's always appreciated!

Thanks so much for reading this post! For this post's video, it's a video of Hatsune Miku's song "Melt". She was performing "live" in Tokyo, Japan.