
Scion seems to be puling out the big guns in its efforts to promote its new vehicles, the iM and iA.
One of the commercials Scion released recently is a 50 second spot that features James Franco playing two versions of himself. One, the talented and classy Oscar-nominated actor. The other, the free and experimental artist.
I think Scion may be reaching a bit beyond its pay grade here. First of all, seeing James Franco wearing a tuxedo and driving a Scion is one of the most improbable scenes I have encountered in a very long time. Second, claiming Scion is for the creative types is a little ironic since both the iM and the iA are simply rebadged vehicles from other brands. Then again, Andy Warhol showed that replication is a major part of modern art, so maybe we are getting real deep here.
James Franco is a mega-celebrity, and having in your commercial is bound to garner attention. At the end of the day, that is what Scion is aiming for, and I anticipate this will be considered a success as far as Scion's marketing goes.