Toyota Japan’s sexy new topless ad featuring transgender model shocks viewers

Are you trying to tell me that people were surprised by the twist ?

From the rear-view angle, it's obvious this model has baws (As Irvine Welsh refers to them).

NOT AUTHORITY > JUST AWFUL (would've been a better tagline).

I hate ads that have nothing to do with what they are selling. I find nothing especially shocking about the ad, just that it is meant to be shocking. Totally annoying and useless. If I were in the market for buying a family car, this ad would turn me off for the sole reason that it is sexist and stupid.

Erh... it is absolutely useless in terms of advertising. But apart from that, why is it "shocking"?

Could somebody please explain to me why this is in any way or form "shocking"? Some dude who looks like a girl with no clothes? Oooh.

Nice dupa, and there is nothing wrong with small boobies.

I agree, the mosquito bite size are the best!

You guys don't get it. It's not a girl. It's a dude.

What does this ad have to do with selling a car? This does not make me want to buy it.

I thought it was going to be about the impact ability of the car to easily absorb being rammed from behind. But I was wrong. I actually have no idea what the underlying message is...

I think the ad is advertising genius. It puts the brand indelibly into your mind by linking it to a subject that holds feelings within the subconscious and conscious minds. It implants the brand. Brilliant.

Japantoday really, really needs to check facts before posting articles (and re-posting from other websites) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/22/stav-strashko-toyota-commercial_n_1822990.html?icid=hp_canada_top_art Huffington Post has it right, big surprise. Stav Strashko is a 100% male model, not transgender. Just happens to be androgynous.

Objectify a man, women applaud. Objectify a woman, women scream and rage and get offended.

See, I can do dumb generalizations too, Aliasis.

You chose to misunderstand the reaction for the sake of your comment. The reason some men (not all by far) criticized the ad is that they don't like to be fooled, not because a man is "objectified". Look at the Old Spice ads, did you hear any men whining about the Old Spice guy being objectified? Going back in time, James Bond movies frequently include scenes lingering on James Bond in a swimsuit showing his muscled body, from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig. Never heard any whines about this either.

Maybe men don't pose the way women do in ads that "objectify" them. But that's no proof of anything. If men try to pose like women do, they look ridiculous, not sexy.

Objectify a woman, men applaud. Objectify a man, men scream and rage and get offended.

I'm not offended, I think men who can pull off successful crossdressing as women are awesome and beautiful. I love when models challenge gender norms and traditional images. I wonder to know if this model is ACTUALLY transgender or just a cross dresser - wouldn't be surprised if JT mixed that up.

Some of you don't see anything wrong, but I did. For any gender, his butt looks horrible!

The commercial certainly makes you question your sexuality though. But that it won't sell me a car that is for sure.

But that is me. I know plenty of women who like looking at effeminate men, and for them, it might be a good hook.

the only cool car that came out for toyota was the supra :/

Nice dupa, and there is nothing wrong with small boobies.

Certainly a memorable commercial, but the car is another one of those instantly forgettable ones that Toyota keeps churning out. I imagine there are hoards of women out there thinking 'urayamashii' about the model in all respects other than the lack of boobs.

Is that the best the ad company could come up with?

Corny I know..... but it was funny thinking about it....

Damn..... what's next? Nissan trying the same with their Fairlady Z ? They'll end up calling it a "Fairylady X"

Interesting. Smooth move. Whether the young man is gay or not, I hope Toyota steps up for the CAUSE. This is "shock and awe" at its best. The only risk is that the homophobic might abandon Toyota. However, I sure hope it helps the gay/lesbian community of Japan, in some way. There is another video of the "making" of this CM, where the young model introduces himself. I am so happy, (that) I was not fooled by this CM, but a few seconds had "sexy young lady" written all over it.

Nothing strange here, just Toyota marketing to young Japanese males. Have you ever taken a good look at some of the "boys" these days? They're getting more feminine by the minute.

Haha, nice twist.

That is one creepy commercial. I predict a slight dip in Toyota's market share after this poor effort.

I don't get the ad. It makes no sense, 20 seconds of looking at a feminine man's butt and 5 seconds of a car. I don't see the link between the two, what was the ad trying to say?

The body is a wonderful work of God, why do we make it out to be so bad.

Odd. Simply, odd. There is no point at all to this commercial, but perhaps, to shock? Weird.

Yeah, that stunned me yesterday! Simply gross. As if it ain't enough to deal with all the dumb ads out there, now Japs just have to make it gruesome. Bravo!

What is transgendered about this model? It is just a feminine looking male model. Genitals appeared intact and no breasts.

Meh. I'd be shocked by this, but its on them what they choose to have as an ad. Never saw the commercial so I really can't say how shocking it is depending on presentation.

LOL...Toyota get real use a woman!

That, That, Dude looks like a lady! Steven Tyler (Aerosmith)

Uh... that was interesting.

So Toyota need a flashy ad to sell a boring sedan? How unoriginal.

There are plenty of Japanese boy band members who look much more like women than the person in the ad.

So why is it no big deal for them to get out their waxed chests? Schoolgirls go crazy for skinny Japanese guys who look like women.

Not quite sure what the message is though..... Drive a new Auris and you too can look and feel like a woman???

It's hilarious becuas eall the ojii san / salari man tachi will hav egot all excited at the start of the Ad thinking the norms of advertising is on a roll only for their sexuality to be questioned by, 'IT'S A MAN!' LOL! Brillitant.

It's a pretty sad commercial for this car company... I don't care how hard they try...or how skinny they get... I can always spot "manly" HIPS!

At some point this CM had to be done.... scantily clad and hot women in general have been selling cars for decades. But this is a one off.... its done... nice commercial.... you got us. Now back to reality.... Government subsidies have ended on energy efficient vehicles and SK is making very competitive cars.

"A' male' model looking like a female"

He does not.

Oh gosh...A 'male' model looking like a female 'oh my god oh my god oh my god' Nice surprise, lots of talk about it, great advertisement

Toyota: CHALLENGE YOUR PERCEPTION

It's not surprising that comments have been disabled on the Youtube video.

That is one of the worst commercials I've seen, and I've seen a lot.

At least these commercials will be shown after 10PM. 11PM for the second version.

The second version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGBb8RN8xBs

For a commercial to stick in your mind it either has to be especially memorable or annoying. Back home we got a shoe-brand who does the latter and everyone knows the brand.

Don't see anything upsetting here but than I watched full frontal nude shampoo ads 30yrs ago. Also the ad don't seem to be aimed at the japanese market.

PS

The interview link said he's Israeli, not Ukrainian.

I was all set to say "He's not transgender!, I can see his thing-a-ling clearly in the interview link, and he's got no boobies!"

But wikipedia has proved me wrong. Transgender doesn't necessarily mean transexual (surgery) or gay, or even completely identifying as the opposite sex. It seems to be a broad vague term used variously. Read all about it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender

The cm as a cm is pretty so-so for me. However the use of someone transgender by a big mainstream corp, and playing on everyone's expectations with the long buttocks shot, took guts and very cool.

Everyone complaining about a guy or a "i dunno whatitis", this is your chance to get used to it and get over it. It's not a big deal, ppl can really do anything. Just cuz you couldn't imagine it, doesn't mean it's "wrong".

What's the big fuss about this clever and unique commercial? A great commercial makes you either laugh or give you undivided attention or in this case shocked some people that are naive or uneducated about the transgender population. The most important thing in any commercial is that it makes you aware of its existence and also that you stopped doing whatever it was that you were doing to watch it. Thus an established brand like Toyota may be able to have more flexibility and use humorous tactics to interest the target audience and also keep it simple such as with car advertising commercials.. This is what marketing is all about.

Cosplay?

I don't see anything wronge with this. I laughed my butt off at it!! Have a sense of humor people!

I guess Toyota needs the stick to shift gears......................

Funny, a couple of smug comments about how the bigots will come out for this and how those who are shocked should "grow up." Yet, not a single comment expressing shock or condemnation. The only mention of shock is in the story, with zero examples.

I'm sure Toyota was hoping for controversy, because the commercial itself would do absolutely zero to get anyone to buy the car. They were hoping for controversy and some free press attention.

"Shock. Outrage. Controversy." Yawn. I think Toyota was a bit behind the times if that's what they expected.

I think the contrast with his chest size will mostly be emphasised by the foreign community...he is definitely not much different from lots of strictly female population here to be brutally honest.

Marketing job is to attract attention, not sell car features... and they did a good job i reckon

Thick, powerful, a pulsing shade of red, will get you from A to B like nothing you've ever felt before... Toyota.

Still, this is absolutely first class advertising.

Bit more cutting edge than the usual adverts - kudos to them, IMHO.

They're drawing attention, which I guess was the objective of this. Never thought Toyota would ever be doing this kind of advert.

His body is strange and the only thing about him that looks like a girl is his hair. They should have used one of the transgendered talents on tv now. At least it would have been funny or the transgendered person would have been more attractive. So far most of them that i have seen on JP tv are more attractive or if not attractive they are pretty funny. Even the dude with the yellow hair would have been more entertaining.

blackrock:

" Honestly, why not a real girl Toyota? "

Because in this case, we don´t get to see nipples. Which raises a bunch of interesting psychological and legal questions about showing what is OK and what is not.

Mirai Hayashi:

" Wow...that is pretty over the top, but the girl is very flat chested...she's built like a 12 year old "

Umm... hate to tell you but it is not a girl.

toyota... check out our package!

The person may be a he or a she, but the car is definitely a car.

He is NOT transgender... he is a cross-dresser. He is still 100% male (I think).

Just love that CM. Toyota has a great sense of humour. Way to go, Toyota!

-Quite Lame-Not anything to do with the car at all,just some lady-boy prancing about!- LAME-O!!

Wow...that is pretty over the top, but the girl is very flat chested...she's built like a 12 year old

This is Japan, The guys are going to love that!

transgender is different from transexual or transvestite..they don't often go through operations..they believe they should have been born the opposite sex and often feel and sometimes look better in the opposite sexes clothing. Many trans gender people still date the opposite gender but still believe themselves better as a man or woman. To get back on topic I see nothing wrong with this ad and people who are strongly bothered by it need to get over it.

Shocking? Gross? Younger people won't be offended by this. Kudos to Toyota for being a few steps ahead of everyone else.

There is everyday gross, then there is the super exceedingly gross. Personally this qualifies as the latter.

I don't understand the connection; I mean, how is that trans-gender "shock" factor supposed to sell the car? "OMG, that chick is actually a dude! Wow I just need that car." Is that how they expect viewers to react? I understand we look at his but most of the ad, and the car is a hatchback, hence a connection, but would it be less common sense if it was actually a real girl? I just don't get it.

Good piece of advertising. Tell the people who are offended or shocked to grow up.

Same old underpowered 4 banger, generic rounded shape, automatic, drive to work and back. And scandalous commercial.

Great for Toyota in making a talking point. These type of things also bring out the bigots and religious nuts,

So why is it shocking? male macho ego bruised? i found it hillarious.

I think I read about him in a local newspaper, he is so thin that he can be male or female model anytime he wants, he has a girlfriend (as flat as him O.o)...

Thanks JT for this interesting article and urm the link to that video.

I guess when this person had the sex op they were sort on cash for the boobs....

And Toyota scores! How easy to get free advertisement. Great marketing team

Such a pretty face - she should smile more. It's an interesting ad, with a crappy tagline.

Super light twin rack front suspension and an innovative single shaft drive. I don't remember the name of the car, except that it wears red panties and has a nice rear.

He is a he, his lil brother is still hanging down there :)) Honestly, why not a real girl Toyota?

I think the campaign tagline should be,"Toyota, now with much,much more under the hood!"

Not anymore.

Read the article....its a man.

Wow...that is pretty over the top, but the girl is very flat chested...she's built like a 12 year old

...Yes I am turning my rear to Toyota on this...