In today's episode of “Fun Public Marketing Stunts That Aren't Firmly Connected to the Actual Product,” Saatchi & Saatchi Europe turned Prague into a giant karaoke machine on behalf of the Toyota Yaris Hybrid.
The playlist, which is an almost-impressive living monument to awful pop songs, was made by changing the street names in Prague's town center to song titles, and then connecting the Yaris' stereo to a GPS system that triggered a new song every time the driver turned onto a different street. That's an awful lot of work just to hear a complete stranger's off-key rendition of “Uptown Girl.”
It's not that the idea itself is bad—plenty of people sing in their cars, myself included. Some of the performances, supposedly culled from the best of live auditions, could even seem endearing. But the payoff doesn't fit the scale of execution at all, and the whole thing looks a little silly as a result. On the other hand, maybe that's the point.
Seriously, though, Hall & Oates? Do they not know who Queen is?
