We’re not going to start by shoving our opinions on you. That will, of course, come later. But first let us tell you a little bit about us. We are Lonnie and Kara. An Art Director and Copywriter team here at Trone that has been told we’re attached at the hip. We spend days at a time working together and have been known to finish each other’s sentences, but on the topic of good advertising, we do NOT always agree.

One of these cases is the campaign for the 2010 Toyota Prius, which was kicked off with a unique spot called Harmony.

Now for our soapboxes.

Kara: The Prius commercials are a beautifully produced example of a beautiful idea. Toyota set out to create a world where man and nature can live in, well, harmony. To show that we can have cars to get where we need to go without completely destroying the environment around us. And they did just that.

Lonnie: I can see why Kara likes this commercial with its bright colors and happy people. I’m surprised she hasn’t traded her car in for a bright, happy yellow one with a giant smiley face painted on the hood. The truth is that I live in the real world, with government bailouts and Cash for Clunkers. These are dire financial times and the message I get from this commercial is “Hey look how much money we have.”

Kara: Bright happy people, huh? Sorry I don’t wear black every day and listen to depressing music like certain art directors I know. Either way, the public living in these “dire financial times,” do not agree with you. Toyota’s “Harmony” spot topped Nielsen’s Top 10 Most-Liked New Ads list in May. Some people must enjoy the fact that the car industry took a different approach than simply driving cars up and down city buildings and over impossible terrain.

Lonnie: Can you take off your rose-colored glasses for just a second and wake up? I can’t help that the public at-large likes to live in a fantasyland where happy clouds dance across the sky and butterflies look like fat-faced cherubs. What we need from a brand is pragmatic, realistic solutions. What different approach? Toyota makes cars for money, not the greater good of man. My jaded advertising mind knows that this is just another slick, marketing concept wrapped in a 100% organic, hormone-free, eco-friendly shell.

Kara: Pragmatic? Really? Is that your Dictionary.com word of the day? What the public needs right now is hope-hope that we’re not screwing up this world so much that our kids won’t be able to live here. Not that any one commercial could really do that, but at least they’re trying. And just to be clear, I do NOT generally condone putting people in costumes for advertising. No chicken suits or Uncle Sam hats allowed. That they were able to make me like this commercial at all was remarkable.

Lonnie: Well that’s one thing we can actually agree on. Costumes don’t belong in advertising. But my dislike is based more in phobias than taste. Oh, and one more thing, I’m not a fan of the Bellamy Brothers.

Kara: Who are the Bellamy Brothers?

Lonnie: Uh, never mind.

Not sure whose side you’re on? Check out the Making Of Harmony video on the Toyota website.