Today I found out about the new marketing campaign for the Toyota Corolla which revolves around the theme: Big Dreams. That's fine and dandy, except the big dreams they're referring to involve Hatsune Miku, the virtual diva program by Crypton Media/SEGA. This bothers me quite a bit because what I didn't mention is that this is a new marketing campaign in the United States of all places--there's even a TV ad. This bothers me because practically nobody (relatively speaking) in America even knows who / what Miku is and now that she's being introduced, she's becoming Americanized.
I don't really understand what Toyota is trying to accomplish with this campaign. My understanding is that Toyota realizes or has noticed the rising popularity of Miku-related videos on Youtube and is trying to ride on the coattails of Miku's virulent potential--hence the comment, "With big dreams in a compact package, both the Corolla and Miku are driving straight to the top." Perhaps it was also in Crypton Media's interest to break out into the American market as they have expressed interest in creating an English-speaking vocaloid.
Whatever the case, the way everything is being presented doesn't sit well with me--but that's irrelevant because I probably will never buy a Toyota in my life if they continue to maintain their "boring, lifeless, disconnected econobox" business model.
American-style Miku doesn't really match her image also, but I won't go into discussing the "Americanization" of popular non-American media this time. The real Miku is below:
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