Comments on: Prank Marketing and the Toyota Matrix: How Far Is Too Far?

By: Court Invalidates Agreement Governing Toyota’s Online Prank Contest — Duick v. Toyota | Focal PLLC

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 03:58:35 +0000

[...] Michael Anderson’s post provides some detail about the campaign and asks some good questions (“Prank Marketing and the Toyota Matrix: How Far Is Too Far?“): [...]

By: Toyota and Saatchi in Legal Headlights Over 'Virtual Lunatics' Campaign

Toyota and Saatchi in Legal Headlights Over 'Virtual Lunatics' Campaign — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:35:31 +0000

[...] What if you're not aware you're part of a "process"? “Although the campaign’s main (web) page clearly states its fictionality, the initial videos made Gawker and The Examiner question whether the initial mugging videos were real or a hoax,” notes ARGNet. [...]

By: Down The Rabbit Hole: Transmedia Disasters - PSFK

Down The Rabbit Hole: Transmedia Disasters - PSFK — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:11:48 +0000

[...] up for personalized pranks and harrasment from their team of “maniacs” – resulting in a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed against Toyota, Saatchi & Saatchi and their team by one unhappy victim of their [...]

By: Super Doomed Planet » Blog Archive » Toyota is Lurking Under the Bed

Super Doomed Planet » Blog Archive » Toyota is Lurking Under the Bed — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:00:28 +0000

[...] she couldn’t sleep, couldn’t stop crying, and started keeping weapons in her car. She’s suing Toyota for $10 million dollars. Toyota claims she agreed to participate, in the sense that she failed to notice something in some [...]

By: Keyfaber

Keyfaber — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:36:09 +0000

In regards to the Orson Welles broadcast: True, it was announced at the beginning of the broadcast that indeed it was a reenactment of the HG Wells book. Naturally, if the fictional context of the reading was announced publicly, it would not be considered a hoax or prank, by definition, and that certainly wasn’t the intention of that station. However, the station began receiving numerous phone calls from worried listeners who had not tuned in to hear the announcement, thinking that the broadcast was in fact a legitimate news story, as did many americans. Still, not a hoax. Things did shift, however, when the producer began signaling to Welles from the sound booth, “Stop the broadcast! People are in hysterics.” Welles response, in so many words, “Let them be afraid!” and he continued. The intention to deceive, therein lies the hoax. The key distinguishing factor between the false, the prank, and an entertaining fiction, is of course, the voluntary suspension of disbelief of the participant/audience.

By: Jane McG

Jane McG — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:20:12 +0000

I’m always reminded of what Sean Stewart said back in the A.I./Cloudmaker days about all of the hype that ARGs were blurring the line between reality and fiction in a way that might unwittingly deceive or fool people. I believe he said (as direct quote-y as I can recall): “Dude, we’re talking about sex robots from the future. If you think it’s real, that’s not our problem.” I always thought that having an ARG be not even remotely plausible was part of the ethos of making them. You don’t want to fool anyone, you want to make it easy for people to pretend they’re fooled.
Hoax marketing sucks. And that Toyota prank campaign strikes me as awfully mean-spirited.

By: Wakkadude21

Wakkadude21 — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:05:56 +0000

Yeah, except it wasn’t a prank. They said at the beginning it was just a story.

By: Bettina Tizzy

Bettina Tizzy — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:43:22 +0000

This isn’t a new dilemma. Some eighty years ago, Orson Wells and the Mercury Theatre pulled a not dissimilar prank but they did it to a much wider audience: the War of the Worlds.