The Next Web is reporting that Toyota has taken to Twitter to advertise their new Camry Effect by offering Twitter users the chance to win one of the new cars. The account @CamryEffect was replying to users who used a Super Bowl related hashtag like #Giants or #Patriots and replying to the tweet with the same offer to win a car every time.

What made this worse is that Toyota set up verified accounts for @CamryEffect alongside @CamryEffect1, @CamryEffect2 and so on. This allowed the company to effectively spam their Twitter campaign to every user who was using Super Bowl related hashtags.

Users were bombarded with the same tweets over and over again until they decided that enough was enough. They took the matter to Twitter who seemingly ignored the reports.

Thankfully, the company, either through Twitter telling them to stop or through their own realization, has stopped the spam campaign. They have suspended all the extra @CamryEffect accounts and made the original private.

Toyota apologized for the spam campaign via a statement:

We apologize to anyone in the Twitterverse who received an unwanted @reply over the past few days. We were excited to share the message of our Camry Effect campaign in a new way and it was never our intention to displease anyone. We’ve certainly learned from this experience and have suspended the accounts effective immediately to avoid any additional issues. Kimberley Gardiner, National Digital Marketing & Social Media Manager, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. Inc.

This is just another example of social media gone terribly wrong. You would think that companies would learn by now. If you want a successful social media ad campaign, don’t shove it in their faces.

Now, feast your eyes.

Shared by Isik Mater.

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Shared by Scott Jarvie.

To introduce the newest model of the Camry, Toyota is streaming the process live on their official site, and, in fact, they are scheduled to show the first one roll off the factory floor in Georgetown, Kentucky during the broadcast. Of course, to celebrate the new Camry’s reveal, Toyota took to the social media networks, namely Twitter, to share the news:

There’s a lot of information coming out during the broadcast, which is still going on. For the tech sector, the vehicle will include access to Microsoft’s Bing search engine–one wonders if that includes free GPS–as well as the option to stream Pandora to the vehicle’s stereo. This latter piece of information is valuable in the sense that Pandora in the car sounds like a direct threat to the Sirius satellite radio service.

As for Bing, well, that gives them a boon over Google, but it’s doubtful such a designation will tilt the scales in Microsoft’s favor when it comes to search dominance. Nevertheless, to be included in such a popular vehicle can only be considered a plus for Bing.

The prices of these new models will vary from $24,725 to $25,900 for the hybrid model, which, according to the release, is lower than the 2011 rates. Twitter confirms this price drop as well:

Another point brought up by the presenters has to do with NASCAR’s use of Toyota parts and other car content. Because Camry and its parts are built in the United States, from Toyota’s perspective, no other car running in NASCAR uses more American-made content than Toyota does.

For a little more perspective, I steer you towards this particular thread, and the following quote:

…St. Angelo, a 30-year General Motors employee before moving to Toyota in April 2005, is referring to one of Toyota’s most popular talking points. The civilian versions of the three cars that compete in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series — the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Dodge Charger and Ford Fusion — are built either in Canada (the Charger and the Monte Carlo) or Mexico (the Fusion). Meanwhile more than 75 percent of the parts used here by Toyota (and 98 percent of the steel) comes from U.S. suppliers…..

While all of this is qualified as interesting facts in relation to Toyota and its Camry model, the way Toyota went about debuting the new model is the story.

Simulcasting video and social media engagement has not been done in relation to the debut of a new car model, especially from a company the size of Toyota, and for a car as popular as the Camry. Does this mean we can expect Toyota’s competitors to follow suit with their own exclusive video the next time the Mustang is remodeled?

It wouldn’t be at all surprising.

Speaking of reaction, Twitter seems to be largely impressed with the new models:

I was able to snag a couple of screenshots of the new Camry model, one of which leads the article and the following one:

That’s what Toyota wants to find out, and thanks to their partnership with Salesforce.com, consumers will be able to find out, as well. The partnership was made to power the “Toyota Friend” program, a social network designed to engage other Toyota drivers/owners. According to the release, Toyota Friend is a social network that connects Toyota owners to their car, the dealership, and with the Toyota company, providing things like maintenance tips and other service-related information. An example used in the announcement introduces the concept of Toyota Friend informing hybrid owners if their battery isn’t sufficiently charged.

Powered by the Salesforce Chatter network, which is described as a “private social network for business,” Toyota Friend will issue “tweet-like” notifications to the owner’s mobile device, which seems to ignore the elephant in the room. Aren’t we in a time of informing people about the dangers involved in mobile device use during vehicular operation? Doesn’t such a service bring the temptation of driving while playing with a mobile device? Questions for another day, I suppose.

While the Toyota Friend social network will be a private one, members can connect to their friends on other social networks like Twitter and Facebook, an idea that seems to court the potentially deadly combination of mobile device use while operating a vehicle even further. Killjoy reactions aside, Toyota President Akio Toyoda likes where the partnership is going:

“Social networking services are transforming human interaction and modes of communication. The automobile needs to evolve in step with that transformation. I am always calling for Toyota to make ever-better cars. The alliance that we announce today is an important step forward in achieving that goal.”

Unfortunately, it’s doubtful Mark Schaefer will approve of this latest social network capability. How about you? Does the idea of a socially-networked vehicle, one that let’s you connect with other social networks, appeal to you? Could you see yourself driving a socially networked vehicle, one that issues messages about the condition of your car? As for the service, will you be able to “friend” other Toyota drivers you see out and about? Something like, “hey, did you see that babe in the Camry? Send her a friend request, dude!”

If so, Toyota Friend’s potential just increased a great deal.

The service is scheduled to debut in 2012, and will be initially offered in Japan to hybrid and electrical Toyota owners.

Whereas SYNC boasts ties to Google Maps, a Microsoft representative explained in an email to WebProNews, "When Entune launches later this year, Bing for Mobile and Bing Maps will be featured as one of several immediately accessible apps, giving drivers access to more than 16 million points of interest."

The representative then continued, "Entune offers advanced conversational voice recognition and integrated mobile apps, allowing drivers to search for a destination, point of interest or restaurant and have the information and directions seamlessly delivered to the navigation system from Bing."

This is something owners are sure to take advantage of on a regular basis.  It’s then possible that, after parking their Entune-equipped cars, they’ll be more likely to visit Bing the next time they’re in front of a computer.

There is the question of pricing and adoption, of course.  Toyota hasn’t yet announced whether Entune will cost $200 or $2,000, and it’s possible a lot of shoppers will leave the option box unchecked.

Still, with a price tag of $395, SYNC has found its way into 3 million vehicles since late 2007, so as long as Entune remains competitive, it’s likely that a lot of Corolla, Camry, and Prius owners will soon start getting better acquainted with Bing.

Toyota is inviting people to submit a video or several photos that show their enthusiasm for the Prius for a chance to host the 10 Years of Toyota Prius Anniversary Celebration in their hometown.

Toyota will select the top 10 finalists and then let the Facebook Prius community decide who should names the most passionate fan.

The submission is today through August 13. Users will be able to vote for the top 10 finalists on August 18 to August 27. The winner will be announced on August 31.

"Toyota recognized in the 1990s that sustainable transportation would become a huge challenge in the coming decades," said Jim Lentz, president and COO of Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. 

"Those realizations proved accurate, and if anything, even more profound considering what we know today."
 

The competition called "Rock the Space" runs today through July 1. Those interested in entering can visit Toyota’s MySpace Music profile for submission details and contest rules.

To enter the Rock the Space competition artists are required to submit an original MP3 demo. Contestants will be able to create a viral music widget with an embed code to share their music on MySpace and the web. MySpace users can participate by adding the music widgets to their profiles and commenting on the Toyota Music profile.

In July, MySpace Records will select five finalists who will be featured on the Toyota Music profile and MySpace members will vote to choose the winner. The five finalists will receive a media allocation to promote themselves with My Ads advertising on MySpace.

The Rock the Space winner will be announced in September and will receive a recording contract as well as a $10,000 musical instrument prize package provided by Fender. The winner’s song will be available for download on the MySpace Music Homepage. The four runners-up will receive a MySpace Records Development Deal friends package.
 

Interestingly enough, these technologies aren’t even car-related.  Also, you shouldn’t expect to see most of them in the area around you tomorrow, next month, or next year.  Yet Toyota might be considered all the more creative due to these facts.

After all, Google often gets credit when it steps outside its search-and-advertising sphere of influence; take the Priuses mentioned earlier as an example, or, better yet, the $10 million Google put towards sustainable transport.  Toyota’s Green Design channel on YouTube is in the same vein.

Yet despite these shared goals and interests, Toyota and Google have not formed any sort of official relationship.  The YouTube development is just Toyota’s attempt to get involved with Web 2.0 and “share its Message of Environmental Innovation.”

Since “[t]he clips will be open for comment and will enable bloggers to share the videos with the online public,” it’ll probably succeed in doing so.

The account comes from Gizmodo, as do several pictures of the Cobalts.  “[E]ach had a metal device attached to its top, which looks suspiciously like a vertical extension for mounting Google’s Streetview 360° camera,” notes Charlie White.

It’s likely just a matter of time, then, until the fleet is dispatched throughout America (or at least the areas surrounding Mountain View).  As White points out, “it’s going to take more than thirty Chevy Cobalts to take a portrait of the entire Earth, or even of the Silicon Valley.  However, with Google’s zillions, just about anything’s possible.”

Indeed, Google’s worth over 12 million Cobalts (the company has a market cap of almost $173 billion, and those cars cost around $14,000 apiece).  It also has an unknown number of Toyota Priuses sitting around, although those are probably destined for greater things.

So, smile and wave, or scream and run – whatever suits you – when you see an oddly-equipped Chevy Cobalt drive by; it’s a representative of Google, and the photographs it takes will be put within everyone’s reach.

For those of you hoping to see some exotic prototypes, sorry.  For those of you worried about seeing some exotic prototypes (which are frequently expensive and unable to perform in real-world conditions), rest easy – a picture provided by Google shows a normal-looking Toyota Prius.  The only unusual feature is an extension cord coming out of the rear bumper.

This cord allows the car to charge its batteries before not-really-charging into the world.  Yet, even if Priuses will never be the world’s fastest automobiles, they can keep up with the pack, and Dan Reicher, Google.org’s Director of Climate and Energy Initiatives, announced, “In the preliminary results from our test fleet, on average the plug-in hybrid gas mileage was 30+ mpg higher than that of the regular hybrids.”

Furthermore, “Since most Americans drive less than 35 miles per day, you easily could drive mostly on electricity with the gas tank as a ‘safety net,’” Reicher writes on the Official Google Blog.

Google’s always talking about conservation, but it’s nice to see some concrete results.  Also, as a car guy, it’s especially nice to see those results resting on four wheels.  More details about the fleet can be found within a YouTube video, but this shouldn’t be the last time you hear about those vehicles; according to a press release, Google.org will “fund more than $10 million to accelerate plug-in hybrid and vehicle-to-grid technology.”