Screenshot from toyotajpchannel [1] on YouTube.
An innovative commercial for aftermarket car parts has captured the attention of social media in Japan.
G Sports [2], owned and operated by automaker Toyota, produced an innovative commerical called G's Baseball Baseball Party [3].
The premise of the video sees pedestrians suddenly joining in an game of pick-up baseball. The participants make amazing catches, and souped-up automobiles — which the commercial is supposed to be selling in the first place — don't make an appearance until the end of the clip.
The video was released in March 2015, and has so far racked up an amazing 8 million views on YouTube.
According to some on social media, part of the appeal of the commercial is that it doesn't really appear to be a commercial:
TOYOTA G's Baseball Party https://t.co/YX4vNrLHtl [4] CMのクオリティがすんげえ高い。 だが売ろうとしている「商品」がCMに追いついてない、気がするｗ pic.twitter.com/dVk1U7GqG5 [5]
— まさひろ⊿P10広島最終日へGO！！ (@masahiro2010) August 7, 2015 [6]
The quality of the commercial is really good! Although you get the feeling they wound up making a commercial better than the product they're selling LOL.
Note: The translation of the Tweet has been updated based on insights from Marc Adler [7].