Toyota’s Scion Becomes Online, Reality TV Star

Toyota is turning to digital to generate buzz and create a cool factor for its Scion brand. Add to that all the requisites of a bona fide TV production, and the result is “Reinvent the Wheels,” a six-episode, web-only series, on your computer now @ www.reinventthewheels.com.

Targeted to the younger generation, the series has been created, cast, and produced like reality television, replete with trailers, behind-the-scenes interviews, music downloads, explosive graphics, and an episodic time clock countdown.

Hosted by comedian Angie Greenup, six “creatives” were chosen from scores of pitch auditions on how they would redesign their Scions. Each episode is 10-15 minutes long. The six contestants will quickly be reduced to three finalists who will work with professional garage tuner shops on their redesigns.

Greenup will be joined by three judges, and instead of a show-runner, there’s a show mentor, Zulu of LA’s "Zulu Tattoo" parlor. His role is to push art to the automotive level and encourage the contestants to think out of the box… or in this case… out of the car. His credential for the role? Celebrity inker.Continue reading...