With perhaps the exception of British electronic synthesizer group Add N to (X) and a certain risqué music video, the concept of plugging in an electronic gadget isn’t what most people would think of as the most...ahem...suggestive of acts.
But Toyota’s latest Japanese social media campaign for its 2012 Prius Plug-in hybrid alludes to just that, due in part to suggestive camera angles and some rather short skirts.
Moreover, neither the PLUG-IN Championship iPhone app, or the video promoting it, appears to feature the popular plug-in hybrid once.
Confused? You should be.
According to Campaign Asia, Toyota’s latest social media escapade is designed to turn the act of plugging any consumer device, and by association, a plug-in hybrid, into a fun activity.
“PLUG-IN Championship takes the plug-in action where smartphone users connects their device to the recharger, and turns it into a sport,” says Toyota in its description for the app in the iTunes store.
“Players will compete with each other by accuracy of the timing of the “plug-in” action and win scores for each play. When a smartphone is plugged in, the app reacts with playing an exhilarating video to add more sparks to the game.
After plugging in, the game gives users a score, which they can then share with friends on social media networks like Twitter and Facebook.
But there’s still a niggling question. What does this have to do with the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid?
Probably a lot less than R2D2 and C3PO have.
What do you make of Toyota’s latest suggestive, and frankly confusing , social media campaign?
Is it another example of poor plug-in car advertising, or has its hidden message been lost in translation?
Leave your thoughts in the Comments below.
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