Toyota channels Basho in unusual music video for Prius

Combining well-known brands with up-and-coming artists risks looking contrived, but Toyota's experiment with Japanese alternative pop group Wednesday Campanella, while unusual, at least presents the Prius in a refreshing new light for a Japanese audience. 

The futuristic video is an effort to encourage car-shy young adults to take a Prius for a test drive. It weaves frequent placements of the Toyota model into a song named after the celebrated 17th century poet Matsuo Basho.

The concept for the video is that the group test drives a Prius and concludes that Basho would have used the model for himself given the chance (and presumably a different birthdate). The model features in everything from a factory setting to lyrics naming the model’s parts and a scene of serenity inside the cabin during a test drive.

The Prius test drive campaign has taken other surprising directions through tie-ups with Lotte chewing gum and Blue Bottle Coffee.

Campaign’s view: The video is an imaginative way to showcase a test drive. It manages to integrate brand and pop culture with content that is appealing for both Prius and music fans.

This article originally appeared on Campaign Japan: プリウス、水曜日のカンパネラと試乗MVを制作