Prius Goes Platinum badge... I mean, sticker...
Toyota Prius

Prius Goes Platinum – a badge you’d be ashamed to display?

Well, that went well…

Back in the spring of 2011 Toyota had celebrated 1 million Prius vehicles sold in America between 2000 and April 2011. So, they decided to do something special for the Prius owners…

It hasn’t even been a full half year since I registered to receive the Prius Goes Platinum badge here at Toyota site and already a (strangely thin) envelope from Toyota! Let’s open it quick, get our hands on a badge I’ve earned through owning 2 Priuses (Priae?) and putting 130,000+ miles on them, a badge I would love to stick somewhere on the outside of the vehicle (what else am I supposed to do with it, anyhow?).

Here is what comes out of the envelope:

Prius Goes Platinum badge... I mean, sticker...
Prius Goes Platinum badge… I mean, sticker…

It’s a paper sticker! I don’t know why I have expected something that’s protected from the environment (there should be a pun here somewhere) since Toyota did not really promise any particular badge design, but best I can do with the paper sticker is, well, recycle it, perhaps? I’m much too old for a sticker collection and I can’t put it on the outside – it’ll get washed off by the first rain. Besides, my printer does a better job at printing vibrant colors!

I can’t believe Toyota went so cheap on the most loyal customers – who else did they think would be silly enough to fill out a form to receive a Prius badge? I’m very curious as to what the cost of the badge would be – considering they would need tens of thousands of these done – if they went the standard corporate swag way – some durable plastic in clear outdoor rated finish. 50 cents?

Well, anyhow, the badge project is a flop but they did have something to say in addition to giving out something to display proudly (in your sticker album):

Letter from Toyota you get with the “Prius Goes Platinum” badge:

Greetings, Prius Person!

Here is your one-of-a-kind Prius Goes Platinum badge celebrating over million Prius vehicles sold in America.

Since the vehicle’s introduction in 2000, Prius People like you have saved estimated 941,012,817 gallons of gas in the US (approx. 6,500 gallons of those are mine – Fuelzilla) – that’s $2,361,752,182 in saved fuel costs. You’ve also saved enough CO2 to equal the weight of six million SUVs!

So display your badge proudly for the whole world to see (in your sticker album – Fuelzilla)

And thank you again for supporting America’s favorite hybrid.

Yours Cheaply,
Toyota
(sorry, could not resist, the two lines above are mine, in case you couldn’t tell – Fuelzilla)

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