Toyota Motor Company unveiled the new model of its tech-savvy Scion xB in Chicago and on the virtual world of Second Life at the same time today in simultaneous press conferences.

First presented in 2003, the Scion has always been targeted at early-adopters - young, urban, tech-geek male audiences. The car can be customized with choose-your-own-goodies that can be created on Toyota’s website or at special kiosks in low-sales-pressure dealerships. Scion’s can be ordered up with high-tech gadgets like i-pod connections, up-load capabilities and audio systems that appeal to young, hipsters.

In Second Life, Toyota has actually created an entire Scion City in which young entrepreneurs can build online communities, events, and companies in the buildings it “owns”. The new Scion xB can be purchased for 300 Linden (or $1 in real life money).

When does tech start and real life end for this generation? Will Second Life car dealers have the same sleazy reputations they do in real life? Will cars driven in Second Life contribute to Global Warming? Stay tuned…

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Jupiter Research reports that 53 percent of online teens watch video on the Internet occasionally and 22 percent of them view video weekly or more frequently. According to Jupiter 44% of teen online video viewers usually find the programs they watch based on friends’ recommendations via online or off-line channels. Other popular means of discovering online video include personal blogs and social networking sites like MySpace, as well as search engines. .. So, who is watching your kids, who are watching videos??

Boston was in panic yesterday over the placement of light boards across the city which showed a character from the Adult Swim cartoon, Aqua Teen Hunger Force.  The light boards were seen by officials as potential bomb devices which precipitated the closing of bridges, roads and train stations. The hoax was carried out by two fans and coordinated by an ad agency named Interference Inc. which specializes in guerrilla marketing campaigns.

The two men who placed the devices were Gen Y age.  They recorded themselves placing the light boards and uploaded the video to one of their websites (zebbler.com).  Today, these two men pleaded not guilty to charges that they intended to created a panic by placing “bomblike” devices around the city. And, in facing the media after their hearing, these two men would only answer questions about their hair.

Let’s analyze this situation for the inherent message that the world gets about Gen Y, and who it hangs with.

1. A cartoon is so addictive that it drives two men to risk going to jail to market it.
2. They film themselves putting up the devices and upload the video to their website assuring that others will see them doing it.
3. The men casually deny the “official” media any story by being playful and cartoon-like themselves at a press conference.
4. An ad agency creates a device which looks like a bomb to advertise this cartoon in underground, potentially illegal ways.
5. The media who cover the story (CNN) actually discover that their company (Turner Broadcasting System) hired the advertising agency.

When seeking uniqueness in a cluttered world of advertising, there are many options available to Gen Y.  The very name of the advertising agency which created this stunt (interference) alludes to the difficulty advertisers have in getting through to this generation. What once might have been considered a college prank was funded and conceived to support the shows of, and attract Gen Y viewers to, one of the largest media organizations in the world.  It backfired.

What will happen next?  The Mayor of Boston wants to bill Turner Broadcasting for the cost of responding to this situation.  The advertising agency’s website is shut down and the owner unavailable for comment.  Two men may or may not be convicted.  All for a cartoon show.

Gen Y isn’t the culprit in this story.  But it is the instigator. The marketplace is searching for the right methods to reach out to a huge, wealthy generation with little tolerance for traditional marketing.  In their search for interference, the marketing gurus misstepped.  They might end up getting what they wanted - increased viewership for a cartoon and movie to come out later in the year, but at what price?  The fear and panic of an entire city… all for a cartoon and the almighty dollar.

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