If you’re a Japanese car manufacturer, how do you get a generation raised on manga interested in your latest vehicular offering?
How about transforming all of your car’s parts into anthropomorphized moe-style characters? That’s what Toyota has gone about doing with the ad campaign for their new Prius, dubbed Prius! Impossible Girls.
There are currently 40 Prius! Impossible Girls, or Pri-gaa, for short, each representing a piece of new model of Toyota’s hybrid car, each with a unique character design and catch phrase. Some of them are even voiced by professional voice actors.
Girl 01, for example, is the car’s 2ZR-FXE engine, whose slogan is “let’s take a drive together.” She’s voiced by Kana Hanazawa (Durarara, Prison School).
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Number 03, Power Control Unit, is voiced by Misaki Kuno (Lupin the 3rd), who implores potential Prius purchasers “just because I’m small don’t take me lightly!”
![](/Uploads/Public/Images/Newsletter/01-21-16/prius03.jpg)
Our favorite might be number 39: Door Sound. Slogan: “I hope you come to like my voice.”
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Coming soon: a theme song and game.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Pri-gaa campaign is making a splash on social media in Japan. What do you think? Could an ad campaign like this work in the States?
Source: WSJ