While Toyota was (fairly) criticized for not responding to the sudden acceleration and other problems soon enough, it's clear that the company has now accepted that it's in a crisis and must engage the conversation. For example, just a couple of months ago, one could still frequently see ads blithely repeating the same homilies the company had used since the 80's: our cars have rock-solid quality - ask anyone who drives one. These claims seemed particularly tone deaf, as I often recall seeing them during commercial breaks for the morning news, which was simultaneously broadcasting sensational news stories about yet another quality complaint, accident, recall or disclosure of embarassing internal files.
Most of Toyota's commercials now expressly or implicitly acknowledge that its reputation for quality has been questioned, and strike a different tone. For example, an ad that began to play on February 6 features soft, emotional piano music, with a muted voiceover directly acknowledging the quality and safety complaints. However, the ad quickly pivots to another page from the crisis response playbook, featuring grainy, nostalgic photos from its early US history beginning in the 60's, mentioning its 170,000 US employees, and declaring that the company is spending $1 million per hour on fixing its problems.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZoBfpm1zHg
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