Toyota Shocks Ad World With Topless Androgynous Model

12 years, 2 months ago - 29 August 2012, Autoblog
Toyota Shocks Ad World With Topless Androgynous Model
This one will take some puzzling. Toyota has released an ad for the company's brand-new 2013 Auris hatchback, complete with a topless model. It's not what you think, however.

The agency behind the spot contracted Stav Strashko, a 19-year-old male model born in the Ukraine and raised in Israel for the role. Strashko has a distinctly androgynous appearance and has modeled women's clothing in the past. He says he gets mistaken for a female fairly often, but believes "the mind sees what it wants." This may very well be the point of the Toyota Auris ad.

After Strashko struts for the camera, the text on the screen reads, "Not trendy, not casual, not for everyone." If shock value was the intent, it seems to be working – the new five-door's ad has soaked up more than 650,000 views on YouTube since Sunday. Something tells us we should brand this one with a potentially Not Safe For Work tag.