The EV category has spent years preaching to the converted. Toyota, the automaker known for inclusive, optimistic storytelling that finds wonder in everyday life, and Burrell, the Chicago-based agency known for culturally resonant creative and deep expertise in reaching multicultural audiences, went after the skeptics instead.
Together they launched the Toyota BEV Family Campaign: a series of spots that follow electric vehicle skeptics as they’re won over by the bZ, bZ Woodland, and C-HR, one by one.
MEET the HATERS
The campaign’s hero spot, “Haters Anthem” opens on three skeptics portrayed as puppets, each one doubtful and vocal about it, who are converted into Toyota BEV believers after getting behind the wheel. When they convert, the puppets transform into their human selves.
To build them, Burrell partnered with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which designed and built five custom puppets over six weeks, each with intricate mechanisms for unique arm and foot movements. A dedicated hairdresser ensured curly locs, fades, and twists were executed precisely and matched across both the puppet and human versions of each character. An all-Black puppeteer team, led by Puppet Captain Raymond Carr, handled performance and choreography throughout.
The work was directed by Paul Hunter through Prettybird Productions and set to “Haters Anthem” by Infinity Song, a four-sibling soft rock band signed to Roc Nation.
BUILT for the CULTURE
Burrell’s creative is grounded in a real audience insight: Black consumers have been underserved by the EV category, and nobody has built a campaign that reflects their vision of what electric driving looks and feels like. This one does. The humor, the music, the puppetry, and the transformation are all in service of a single idea: get someone skeptical behind the wheel, and let the car close the deal.
“There’s a thin line between a skeptic and a hater, and we leaned into that energy instead of away from it,” said Tara DeVeaux, CEO of Burrell. “The puppets give us permission to be honest about the doubt, and the transformation shows what’s on the other side of it.”
The campaign runs across linear broadcast, digital, and paid social from May 5 through September 30.
