-- Toyota will celebrate 90 finalists of the 8th Toyota Dream Car Art Contest with Vine videos, released every single day from May 29th to August 31st

TOKYO, May 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Toyota Motor Sales & Marketing Corporation (TMSM), a subsidiary company of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) today announced the launch of "Dream Car of the Day," a first-of-its-kind Vine campaign that brings an exciting new dimension to its annual Toyota Dream Car Art Contest. For the first time in the history of the contest, TMSM is sharing the inspiring works of 90 finalists with an online campaign using Vine, one of the hottest mobile apps that enables users to create and post six-second short looping video clips. The online campaign reflects the global scale of the contest, allowing for worldwide exposure to the impressive ideas of children, and aligns with the company's guiding philosophy of innovation through next generation thinking.

Believing that the children who dream and develop their imagination create the future, TMSM hosts the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest each year and asks kids to draw their dream car of the future. The 2014 8^th Annual Toyota Dream Car Art Contest attracted more than 660,000 submissions from over 75 countries and regions worldwide.

In order to show how powerful kids' imaginations can be, TMSM partnered with creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon Tokyo to conceptualize the Dream Car of the Day and bring the 90 finalists' dream car drawings to life through 3D and 2D animations. Each design will be featured in its own Vine video, taking viewers on a ride through the imagination of the young artist.

Starting today, and for the next 90 days, one new artwork and accompanying Vine video will be revealed on the Dream Car of the Day website and on social media. Visitors can view the Vine video by "liking" it. The Dream Car of the Day website will be home to all 90 dream car designs and will feature each child as the "hero" for the day, collectively serving as an inspiring representation of the creativity of the world's future innovators.

Key Highlights:

• The Toyota Dream Car Art Contest started in 2004 and is one of the largest global art contests for children with the 8^th annual contest attracting over 660,000 participants from over 75 countries and regions around the world
• Many of the submitted works of art show a strong theme of sustainability messages with car designs offering imaginative solutions to large-scale social and environmental issues
• Winning artwork were selected by a panel of external and internal judges, including illustrators, designers and the President of Toyota
• 2014 marks the first year that Toyota is showcasing the contest online through a first-of-its-kind Vine campaign
• Dream Car of the Day campaign will celebrate the 90 finalists selected from the winners of regionally held Local Contests who have been entered into the World Contest, where they are judged to qualify for the final awards

Supporting Quotes:

"I am thrilled by this opportunity to provide a place for kids around the world to express their dreams and to think about the bright future ahead. These amazing works are a great inspiration to Toyota. It is our hope that we continue to share great dreams, connecting kids and customers through this contest. This online campaign "Dream Car of the Day" was inspired by our wish to let each young artist shine as a hero and have their idea shared with people around the globe. Seeing the creativity in the kids' artwork inspired us to try different ways of celebrating the dream car drawings, which is how we arrived at the concept of transforming them into Vine videos. We hope that the Dream Car of the Day brings joy to the kids that participated, and to the many people involved, as well as to our customers. Anyone who sees the dream cars that these kids designed are sure to be touched by the optimism and innovative thinking that went into them."

– Masanao Tomozoe, President & Chief Executive Officer, Toyota Motor Sales & Marketing Corporation

"We are so proud to be collaborating with Toyota to design the world's first Vine campaign for kids. To appropriately represent a competition of this caliber, we had to take on the challenge of doing something that has never been done before. The result is a simple six-second clip that shows the kids' artwork through a different lens, and we hope it inspires people to see things a bit differently. As creators, we respect each young participant's vision, their creative process, and the details of their idea's expression. In making the art come to life, we wanted to ensure that we put in the effort and passion these young artists deserve and have been honored to do so. We admire Toyota for continuing this effort over the past ten years and hope it will continue to grow widely and delight children and grown-ups everywhere."

–Masahi Fujiyoshi, Senior Art Director, Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon Tokyo

About the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest:
Toyota Motor Sales & Marketing Corporation, a subsidiary company of Toyota Motor Corporation, has been hosting the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest since 2004 as a part of the company's social contribution programs. The initiative invites children under the age of 15 from all cultures to share ideas about the future of mobility by submitting drawings of their dream cars. Toyota believes in nurturing the creativity of the next generation of great inventors, thinkers and dreamers because every great idea was born in the glimmer of a dream. Toyota Dream Car Art Contest consists of two stages. The first is a series of regionally-held "Local Contests." Winners from this stage are entered into the second stage "World Contest." 90 finalists are selected at the World Contest who then qualify to be judged for the final awards. The final awards will be announced at the Awards Ceremony to be held on the 27^th of August 2014 in Japan.

About Toyota Motor Sales & Marketing Corporation
Toyota Motor Sales & Marketing Corporation (TMSM) was established by separating marketing support functions from Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), and began operations in January 2010. TMSM's mission is to enhance Toyota's marketing and promotional activities by implementing and supporting in global marketing activities. By separating from TMC, TMSM aims to pursue customer oriented marketing activities with higher level of expertise and speed. TMSM's wholly owned subsidiaries are Toyota Marketing Japan Corporation, Delphys Inc., AMLUX Toyota Co., Ltd, and Toyota Automall Development Corporation.

Tags / Keywords: TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION | Toyota | Vine | social media campaign | art contest | kids | 3D Printing | animation | design | technology | creativity | Dream Car Contest | Dream Car of The Day

Links / URLs:

• Toyota Motor Sales & Marketing Corporation: http://tmsm.jp/en/index.html
• Dream Car of the Day: www.dreamcar-of-the-day.com
• Toyota Dream Car Art Contest: www.toyota-global.com/events/dream_car_art_contest/

Follow Dream Car of the Day:

• Vine: www.vine.co/toyotadreamcar
• Twitter: @ToyotaDreamCar (#ToyotaDreamCar)
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ToyotaDreamCarGlobal
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/toyotadreamcar
• Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ToyotaDreamCar
• Official Campaign Hashtag: #ToyotaDreamCar

SOURCE Toyota Motor Sales & Marketing Corporation