2016 Toyota Tacoma Ad Campaign Is a Mix Between Mad Max and Gymkhana

You tell them to go out and play. You also show them what they are missing out on. And, of course, you also try to suggest a product that will give them access to all of that.

This is, in brief, the idea behind the latest commercial spots for the 2016 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. The new Tacoma starts life from a very privileged position: the previous model was the best-selling midsize pickup in the US, a legacy everyone at Toyota hopes will be carried on by the new model.

The first step towards this goal was employing two advertising agencies, Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles and Conill, to come up with the commercials you see below. They are actually part of a larger campaign that obviously includes social media channels as well as conventional support.

There are two separate spots revolving more or less around the same idea, but with slightly different approaches. The first one shows a group of young thrill-seekers having fun in the dirt alongside their Tacoma. Watching it with no sound, there are times when you think this might just be a detergent ad, as there's a veritable mud-fest going on there and everyone wants to get as dirty as possible. But then you spot a girl with no shirt on, so that possibility goes flying out the window.

The narrator links the numbers shown on the countdown timer that pops out from time to time with the usual "having fun" lecture on dopamine and how bad uniforms are and being free and so on and so forth. He also goes "tick-tack" a few times, which is a bit grim if you ask us, and shouldn't be used in a commercial that was supposed to be fun unless you're advertising.... I don't know, Tic Tacs, I suppose.

The second clip is a lot more straightforward and is a fun parody with four Tacomas, a lot of motocross bikes and even a guy on an ATV pulling a couch through the desert. The tagline says "Play Now", which is exactly what we advise you to do, starting with the two clips below.