Heard any good Toyota jokes lately? As the automaker admits yet another technical glitch (this time an alleged loss of braking ability with the Prius), comedians and would-be comedians are piling on. So far, the late-night comics, perhaps consumed with their own issues, have largely left Toyota alone, except for Jay Leno, who riffed on another incident: "Well, it happened again. Two Northwest pilots overshot Minneapolis Airport by 500 miles. They weren’t in a plane, they were in a Toyota. It wouldn’t stop." A site called DailyComedy.com suggested an alternate tagline for the Prius: "Making the world a better place. Even if you’re not in it." And consumers in a Los Angeles Times story posited that Toyota stands for "This One You Oughta Tow Away." Not to be outdone, comedian Michael Nelson rolled out this semi-funny video of a putative Toyota spokesman named Beau Jangles who can no longer keep up the lies. "I can’t do it," he says, whipping out a cigarette and a beer. "Oh really, it’s my job to lie to people?" He then explains other Toyota defects. "The Camry was designed by a freshman at DeVry," he says. "It was a question on his midterm." Also, the Matrix has a blind spot so big that you have to ride with a seeing-eye dog. So far, not great, though I’m sure comedy writers are dreaming up Toyota zingers as you read this.
—Posted by Todd Wasserman