Textual Analysis: Toyota Yaris – Gadget Master

Toyota Yaris – Gadget Master

The features in this advert include:

• Real Time
• Repetition
• Speech – The artist speaks in the prelude of the song, saying “This one right here, is for all you smart folks out there, making smarty arty decision.” The artist speaks directly to the viewers and using the work “you” makes it personal. The artist compliments the viewers by calling them “smart”; this helps establish a positive relationship with the character and makes him likeable.
• Dramatic Action – This advert focuses on dramatic action, with the protagonist mocking the “gadget master” and the unnecessary modifications he has made to his vehicles. The gadgets he has installed in his car are shown to be obsolete when compared to the Toyota Yaris’ Bluetooth enables multimedia player; which can do many different things while remaining compact and convenient.
• Demonstrative Action – The female character shows some of the cars features as she connects her phone to the multimedia player using Bluetooth. The interface of the multimedia player then shows other features such as be used to play songs directly from the phone, to make phone calls, to access Google, and for satellite navigation. Those features are not demonstrated, but the advert makes the viewer’s aware of their existence.
• Music – The advert is created to seem like a music video. The Gadget Guy song was created especially for this advert, and the action in the advert supports the lyrics. The car is aimed for younger people and so advertising company Saatchi & Saatchi created an urban pop style advertising campaign. This short rap song appeals to the target audience, and ends with a hook that has been in hip-hop music from its early days.

This advert is a dramatization, which compares the Toyota Yaris to another car, and highlights the built-in gadgets and features of the vehicle; while ridiculing the customisations made by the gadget master to his car.

This advert targets the young adults; the hip-hop theme appeals more to them. The target audience must obviously be people old enough to drive, who have passed their test and are looking to purchase a car. I think this advert appeal more to males rather than females.

The advert implies that people who purchase the product are intelligent, and the vehicle allows them to do all sorts of different things while remaining convenient and relevant. In the prelude to the song, the rapper says “smart people” this makes the viewer’s think that smart people buy this vehicle, and so they should too.

The female character is shown positively because she is the “smart” person who owns the Toyota Yaris. The male character is sown negatively; he has made foolish additions to his vehicle, and the lyrics of the song aim directly to insult him.

This advert has taken a funny and informal tone. They have attempted to make it personal to the audience and make them feel involved in the mocking of the “gadget guy”, while enjoying the comments made by the cartoon protagonist.