This Super Bowl XLVIII spot via Saatchi & Saatchi L.A. finds Toyota mining entertainment intellectual property for Super Bowl viewers’ attention: It features Terry Crews driving up to what looks like an abandoned school bus in a Highlander, then getting ambushed by surprise passengers -- Muppets.
Jim Henson's creations had returned to the pop-culture forefront with their successful 2011 feature film "The Muppets," starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams, but not yet suffered the 2015 ABC series by the same name. In any event, they weren't new to the Super Bowl, or even Super Bowl auto advertising: Ford tapped Kermit the Frog to lend his green halo to the Escape Hybrid in 2006 ("Easy Being Green").
The minute-long "No Room for Boring" followed a 2013 Super Bowl outing for Toyota that saw it buy a pair of 30-second slots, then combine them into a comedic 60-second ad starring Kaley Cuoco from "The Big Bang Theory" as a "RAV4 Genie" ("Wish Granted").
Toyota released the 2014 ad the Tuesday before the game.
BRAND: Toyota
YEAR: 2014
AGENCY: Saatchi & Saatchi
SUPERBOWL: 2014
QUARTER AIRED: Q3