Hey Dad: Happy Father's Day from Toyota

Automaker Continues to Celebrate Dads after Successful Super Bowl Camry Campaign

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Jun 12, 2015, 08:00 ET

TORRANCE, Calif., June 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The day to celebrate dads is almost here, and Toyota Camry is driving them into the limelight.

The Father's Day campaign, like the "One Bold Choice Leads to Another" marketing campaign for Super Bowl XLIX, uses targeted social media content to share a single, meaningful message. The new effort also features an experiential element nestled within one of Southern California's top tourist locations.

"We were excited to hear that we really got Americans to think about their dads during this year's Super Bowl," said Jack Hollis, group vice president of marketing, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. "What better way to continue that connection than by starting a timely, new conversation on Father's Day."

A main element of the new campaign is an online video titled "Father's Day Redo." Last month Toyota paired up with director Ivan Cash to conduct "man on the street" interviews in Los Angeles. Every day people were asked what they had planned for Father's Day.

Responses ranged from quizzical to comical to heart-wrenching. And one respondent, Phil Eastman, was given the unexpected opportunity to return home to Hyattville, Wyoming (population 75) to surprise his father, courtesy of Toyota.

In addition to the digital content, Toyota will temporarily erect a monument to dads on the world-famous Santa Monica Beach Pier in Southern California. The I (Heart) Dad structure stands 15 feet tall at its apex and nearly 30 feet long. To help passersby celebrate their own dads, Toyota also installed Instaprint, a technology that allows visitors to instantly print their Instagram photos on-site by adding #OneBoldChoice.

Designed by DJ Neff and built with reclaimed and natural wood sourced in California, the monument will be unveiled on Tuesday, June 16 and will remain on the pier until Monday, June 22.

Lastly, 30-second versions of the two spots Toyota aired during the Super Bowl will appear on major broadcast and cable networks in June, reinforcing Toyota's commitment to fathers. Some of the program the spots will air in are CBS This Morning, The Tonight Show, Castle and Modern Family.

Background on the 2015 Camry

The 2015 Toyota Camry ensures that the driver gets noticed for all the right reasons, and there's an emotional thrill in surprising others with an unexpected side. It was designed by CALTY and engineered at Toyota Technical Center, both in Ann Arbor, Michigan. All Camrys sold in North America are built at Toyota's plant in Georgetown, Kentucky and Lafayette, Ind. For more information on the bold 2015 Camry, visit www.toyota.com/camry.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM), the world's top automaker and creator of the Prius and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years, we've built more than 25 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 42,000 people (more than 33,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.67 million cars and trucks (more than 2.35 million in the U.S.) in 2014 – and about 80 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years are still on the road today. Toyota partners with philanthropic organizations across the country, with a focus on education, safety and the environment. As part of this commitment, we share the company's extensive know-how garnered from building great cars and trucks to help community organizations and other nonprofits expand their ability to do good. For more information about Toyota, visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.

SOURCE Toyota