Sometimes the best product placement isn’t planned. How many Hollywood blockbusters have we seen involving the latest "hot" vehicle engaged in high-speed chase or careening out of control to avoid the bad guys? Plenty. How much does it typically cost a www.fivestartoyota.com to be featured in one of these films? Again, plenty.
Toyota has actually gained some notoriety from a recently released DVD, but not for the latest model. Nope, this vehicle is more than 30 years old and is still revered for its ruggedness and dependability.
The FJ55 Land Cruiser, which debuted in 1967 and lasted up until the 1979, has a supporting role in Stephen King’s The Mist, a horror film about small-town survivors dealing with an alien invasion, after our government rips a hole in the space-time continuum. The movie had a respectable box office showing last year but its growing cult status has enabled it to be one of the most sought-after DVDs in both the rental and retail markets.
While the vintage Land Cruiser doesn’t gain a ton of camera time or even squish an extraterrestrial baddie, it’s the lead actor’s reverence for the vehicle which makes you believe that the FJ55 is the ultimate escape vehicle. "Once we get to my Land Cruiser, we’ll be fine…." Or, "We’ll be OK if we can just get to my Land Cruiser...." he utters a few times in the film.
You can’t buy that kind of endorsement. Well, actually you can in Hollywood. But it sure is sweeter when the comment is free.
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