Even as Toyota aimed at Asian-American buyers, however, it began to realize that Grip was drawing an audience more diverse than first assumed.
“Millions flocked to view the content that has driven double-digit lifts in brand perception among near impossible-to-reach gen z and multicultural audiences,” said Matthew Choy, Intertrend’s executive director of strategy and creative. “These results made Toyota’s new investment in a longer-form Grip movie inevitable.”
Anime has been amassing American fans since Speed Racer first appeared on TV in 1967, with subsequent hits like Dragon Ball (1986) and the indefatigable Pokemon (1997) cementing it into mainstream culture. But Covid-19 may also help explain how Grip found its following.
According to a 2023 Dentsu Japan white paper, “anime’s popularity has further been spurred by the explosive increase in video viewing times during the COVID-19 pandemic.” Google search data shows that, after slipping a bit in 2019, Americans’ interest in anime spiked in 2020. It’s been rising ever since.
And so America is primed for a piece of anime marketing this ambitious, according to Mei Wing Chan, creative director for branding agency Siegel+Gale.
“The timing could not have been better for Toyota,” he said. “At a moment when KPop Demon Hunters has become Netflix’s most-watched movie, interest in anime is at an all-time high. The anime style is an incredible vehicle for storytelling, uniquely Japanese in origin, and coupling it with short-form content is an astute way to engage younger audiences.”
Will AI take the wheel?
Toyota also used the luxurious space of 10 minutes to take on the contentious role of AI in the automotive industry’s future. Its message, ultimately, is a nuanced one.
While our young hero drivers struggle to prevent a dystopian future in which Dr. Synth’s operating system takes over every car on the road (“Bye bye human driving!” chuckles his devious sidekick), Grip keeps itself in the center lane. The film reassures viewers that while AI can improve road performance, it can’t supplant people behind the wheel.
