Toyota Commercial

[JRutledge]

Did anyone see the Toyota commercial with the football official?

Is there anything you might have a problem with the commercial?

I am just wondering if I am the only one that would have an issue with the video.

BTW, it was about a football official that called an incomplete pass that helped the team in white lose the game.

I might post the commercial later.

Peace

[CT1]

The message is great.

Is your problem that the official is still in uniform after the game is over? If that's the case, chalk it up to "artistic license".

[BoomerSooner]

I'm assuming the issue was that they used an actor and didn't consult with a material expert/coach, which resulted in the official's mechanics not being quite what they should have been.

It also looked like the player might have been in bounds, but I think it was left intentionally ambiguous to allow viewers to wonder if it was a bad call. Just guessing, but this is where you had an issue with the commercial. None of us want officials to be portrayed as making mistakes. I fell victim to it in the OSU-Central Michigan thread that I started. I initially thought it was the wrong call. Told my son so in the car, but by the time I posted the thread, I had convinced myself that officials at that level certainly wouldn't miss a call like that. I wanted to believe in the officials being right. I think most of us on this site are actually biased that way.

The reason I didn't have an issue with it in this commercial is that I think the point isn't about whether the call was right or wrong. Someone might have caught it on video, but in a high school game without gigantic video screens with HD displays to replay it in the stadium, the fans are more than likely going to believe the call was wrong on any close play on which they believe the game was decided. By leaving it ambiguous, the commercial connects with every fan that thinks his/her team has ever lost a game on what might have been a bad call. To me the point and what I appreciated about the commercial is the acknowledgement that showing genuine compassion toward each other is bigger than what happens on the field. Whether the viewer interprets the situation as the official blowing the call or not, the message is that the official is still a person that needed help.

Alternatively, there is the issue of how safe is it to pick up people on the side of the road, but I don't think that is the issue anyone is worried about here.

[HLin NC]

I am a +25 year state government employee. I learned a long time ago that I am never going to be portrayed in a positive light by the media in my vocation or my avocation.

It was attempting to send a message about compassion, as in "the ref might have screwed you over, but it wasn't on purpose and now he needs our help because he looks like a drown rat right now." Most of us would have at least took off the hat and stripped off the shirt after a game but the tv /movie industry rarely accurately portrays us and for this commercial, would have lost the impact of what it was trying to say.

[ajmc]

There are jobs, and roles, that people choose to target, for some because they're held in extremely high regard for consistent excellence, and mistakes are rare, for other, they simply like to drag down those who do things they can't.

With commercials, WE EACH get to choose who the advertisers were trying to reach, and whether it's intended as a subliminal compliment, or not.

[JRutledge]

I did not care about the call. It appears the commercial was trying to suggest that the call was the reason the team lost. But still in your uniform is another issue. We do not show up and work a game like we are a plumber (which there is nothing wrong with a plumber for sure), we have a little more to do before the game or preparation at the site. We are not going from one game to another during the day in uniform and certainly not for a playoff game. I was just thinking, "Does no one ever ask an official what they actually do as an official?"

It was not a big deal, but it just is one of those things like when I see a basketball official with a black or white wristband or I see a baseball umpire with his hat backwards on a commercial. Just another example for me at least. It was just interesting and not being on FB anymore made me vent here about something that really would not make most people the least bit upset.

Peace

[BoomerSooner]

I think having him remain in his uniform was a visual cue to the viewers who may not have looked closely enough at the official to realize that the stranded motorist was the official. They could have made the connection another way, but in the brief time of a commercial, that was the quickest.

[ajmc]

Don't mean to sound pessimistic, but does anyone really think Toyota was overtly concerned about any potential negative ill effect this commercial might have had on the integrity, or socially redeeming qualities of football officials, or that it actually changed any perceptions?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by ajmc

Don't mean to sound pessimistic, but does anyone really think Toyota was overtly concerned about any potential negative ill effect this commercial might have had on the integrity, or socially redeeming qualities of football officials, or that it actually changed any perceptions?

Nope, they are not. Just like that commercial that had a kid go up to an official to change an out of bounds call, the organization that put that out there did not care anything about the game or the implications that suggested either. Just a pet peeve that is all.

Peace

[BoomerSooner]

I don't think Toyota was concerned about how the public might perceive officials while in the act of officiating. I really don't mind be screamed at on the field. I just don't want it to carry over into the parking lot. I think the idea was to remind people officials are people that experience breakdowns and deal with life just like everyone else off the field.

I don't think this one commercial by itself is going to change society's behavior toward officials, but it might change how a few people act. It is one more commercial attempting to have a positive influence on people than there was before it. I applaud their effort because changing a few people's behavior today, a few more tomorrow, and so on will eventually change society.

[CT1]

Originally Posted by BoomerSooner

I think the idea was to remind people officials are people that experience breakdowns and deal with life just like everyone else off the field.

This.