In which I (again) play into the hands of the robed-in-black-turtle-necks-shaven-headed-germanic-designer-glasses-wearing admen and women by discussing a recent advert playing on TV here in New Zealand. I would imagine if they are worth their salt they’ll be busy monitoring Technorati and/or Google for mentions of their creative output (not dissimilar to the average blogger in that sense) so if so, hello.

Anyway, the title refers to the new advert for the Toyota Hilux. The Hilux of course is beloved by farmers across Australasia – my father’s one is referred to by the family as “the blue dog” as it seems to be used more as a huntaway than a means of transportation.

So any adverts for the Hilux need to reflect the humour of the target demographic. Which, by no great coincidence, also appeals greatly to the rest of the country. Several years ago this lead to the rather good bugger advert.

They’ve done better this time. You can see it on the Toyota NZ website, or download it here and view it with a flv player. Basically a pair of bulls steal a farmer’s new Hilux to go off looking for some hot cow action. Which of course they find (“Hello ladies. Fancy a ride?”) but not before causing assorted mayhem around the farm.

There’s a lot of interesting readings in this ad. Are the bulls symbolic of the aspirations and desires of the average Hilux user? They’re fairly laconic, and fond of the ladies (reminiscent of the Speight’s Southern men, only more heterosexual). Perhaps the Hilux will let you score more, down on the farm (on the other hand, don’t pursue that line too far!).

Or, given the rather Australian sounding voices of the bulls, does the scene in which they tell the ram to “Get out of the way, sheep-shagger!” actually become a political statement on relationships between Aussies and Kiwis?

Nahhh. It’s just a laugh, right?

(Update: More from me on these burning issues on this page.)