> Yaris: Toyota's Pre-Market Community

With links to topics such as "What to Expect at the Dealership" and "Understanding Credit", Toyota has launched their first-time-buyer-friendly website...and car... bafflingly called Yaris. Oddly, the perky little website takes you to a painfully corporate Toyota-speak website that dims the experience but if you ignore those pesky real-world details, it is a fun place to dream.

While one has to wonder what process yielded the regrettable name, you do have to admire Toyota's offering here. Sure, it is a little bit too "aw, gee shucks" and while the interface for the Yaris Configurator is rather slow, it is kind of fun. I'm sorry, I have to return to the name...what if it turns out to be an acronym for "You'll Always Remember It's Slow"?

I also thought it was notable that the decision process copy starts by asking about "Your Yaris" and further down the decision path it starts referring to the vehicle as "My Yaris". Ahhh, the swinging-watch-in-front-of-eyes school of copywriting.