Toyota Auris Bends the Rules with Transgender Singer Avu-Chan [Video]

Toyota finally realized that it’s been making boring, emotionless cars for the masses. While that might have propelled them to the top, it’s not enough to keep them there. So to spice things up, they’ve done everything they can to trigger an emotional response.

While we wholeheartedly love their new sports coupe, the GT 86 that we drove recently, the same can’t be said about the way they’ve promoted the Auris, which they describe as a “sports hatchback”.

Instead of showing that it fun to drive, which is what we wanted it to be, they’ve made it their aim to outrage and shock with strange marketing schemes. The latest is a short feature film featuring a transgender singer named Avu-chan.

Avu-chan does some shady business with the mafia and they start taking photos of the backside of the Toyota Auris she/he is in. A chase starts through downtown streets, all the time followed by cameras and a helicopter. The video is called “DAS × AURIS BUTTOCKS DRIVE!!”, and we think they’re referring to the fact that the Auris is being driven in reverse, not that it’s being driven using Avu-chan’s backside.

Ziyou-Vachi is a Japanese band who’s name translates to “Queen Bee”. They’re a combination of punk, glam and a bit of Lady Gaga theatricality sprinkled on a bed of gender-bender outrage. Apparently, this is the sort of crowd Toyota wants to be associated with these days.

The band is made up of four members, with the lead singer and the drummer, Avu-chan and Luli-chan (19 and 17 years old respectively), being siblings of African-American and Japanese descent. That’s the sort of avaunt-guard crowd Toyota wants for its latest hatchback.

Before this gender-bender lunacy, Toyota last week released two commercials featuring a 19 year old androgynous Israeli model. It seems they want all the strange acts they can find.