If your dad recognized that 2020 Toyota Supra pinball ad during the Super Bowl it’s because Toyota took inspiration from its own 1985 Toyota MR2 ad.

If you’re like me and was wondering why pinball was chosen as the medium to display the new Toyota Supra’s handling in today’s (Feb. 3, 2019) Super Bowl ad, Toyota’s reasoning behind their decision is a lot easier to understand when I tell you that Toyota has done this at least once before. According to some keen-eyed Gen X’ers watching the ad in real-time, this 2020 Toyota Supra ad is a remake of its 1985 Toyota MR2 ad where they also used a pinball machine.

Thanks to the power of the internet, someone already graciously uploaded the video in question on Youtube for posterity’s sake. Here it is.

And here’s Toyota’s new Supra ad.

Although not a shot by shot remake of the original, it’s a new Supra commercial showcasing Toyota performance for a new era. In the new and old ads, both cars maneuver around the inner workings of a pinball machine where the ball has the ability to negotiate the board on its own, no flipper or gravity doing the work for you. Unlike the MR2 commercial, Toyota does take the liberty to show off it’s drifting which should bode well for feature Toyota Supra owners who might want to disable traction control.

In my opinion, the reasoning behind their choice of commercial is pretty simple. if you were 18 years old in 1985, today you’d be in your 50’s. If you’re one of those Gen X’ers who had kids in their 20’s, around this time your kids will be off to college or are done and the time is right for you to spend your money on something else. Enter the new Supra with an MSRP of a smidge under $50,000.

And if you ARE one of those Gen X’ers who saw this commercial and are now hankering for one, my blog from earlier last month should clue you in on what to expect from the dealership. 

What do you all think of this modern-day remake? Did Toyota nail it? Let me know in the comments below.

Source: Toyota