The Power Of Advertising - Honda Pokes Fun At Toyota Once Again

Honda Malaysia once again pokes fun at Toyota, this time around, it's the 2022 All-New City Hatchback's turn to subliminally pick fun at its main rival and then some.

It's a well-known fact that competition is good for business. It forces companies to be at their best and drive each other to think outside the box.

For some brands, part of the fun stems from a rivalry, poking fun at the competition through advertising. Whether it's through a discreet pass or throwing blatant jabs, competitive advertising is a common tactic used worldwide, and it's a shame we don't have more of it in Malaysia.

But looking to buck that trend, we present Honda's recent advertising campaigns for their new generation City duo, the Sedan and Hatchback.

When Honda launched the City Sedan in 2020, they included the Toyota Camry, Vios and Perodua Bezza in their promotional video.  It was all just a bit of fun to show that the City RS e:HEV had more torque than any of them - including the Camry, which has a 2.5-litre engine.

This time around, it's the 2022 City Hatchback's turn to take the mickey out of its competition.  

The obvious poking is mainly targeted towards its main rival, Toyota and it mostly happens every time the "Hatch Matters" line pops out on screen. While it's not clearly visible what car it is poking fun at, the lime green colour really does give it away.

The first jab is of course to promote the 2022 City Hatchback's remote engine start and climate pre-conditioning feature (RS and V variant), which is a first in class. The second is the 2022 City Hatchback's ULTRA Seats, which really does give the car more versatility over its rivals as it can flip up to provide ample space at the rear.

The jabs then move on to vehicles not in its class as the V City Hatchback variant comes with LaneWatch, which a certain crossover from another brand does not have - even in its top variant form.

Honda's LaneWatch is basically a video-based blind spot monitor that uses a camera located below the side mirror to display an expanded rear view of the roadway through the infotainment screen. The image appears when the turn signal is activated, or a button on the end of the stalk is pushed.

The punching above its weight message continues after that, once again showing off the capabilities of Honda's i-MMD Hybrid powertrain (RS only) with 253Nm of torque. It overtakes a particular sedan which we can barely make out to be the bigger brother of the Toyota it is poking at. 

Once again, this is a charming and witty advert by Honda Malaysia, which we hope sets off a trend of friendly rivalry between manufacturers in Malaysia. It's entertaining and should not be taken too seriously, and is fun to watch.

As they say in a game of chess, your move!