Do new Toyota and TrueMove H ads disprove the YouTube hits measure of ad excellence?

Over the years Saatchi & Saatchi LA has produced a series of outstanding ads for Toyota, surely one of the reasons why the brand has been such a huge success in America despite a number of embarrassing recalls.

But this new one, ‘Elevate Your Style,’ seemed a real bummer, a return to currently fashionable funk with a gaggle of frizzy-haired hipsters – a classic substitute for thought.

Er No. In a few days it’s had over a million YouTube hits with fans seemingly everywhere. Well YouTube never lies or does it?

This heart-rending yarn from Thai phone company TrueMove H (a partner of Verizon) has racked up over 18m YouTubes despite essaying a bizarrely naive version of trickle-down capitalism (well produced admittedly).

Attitudes to such matters vary by region and country of course. Let’s hope none of the over-eager politicians and managers currently mucking up Britain’s National Health Service get to see this one.