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24 Prequel Looks More Like a Rav 4 Commercial

by Aaron

Should 24 keep making the ‘prequels’ that they use for special features on the DVD’s? After watching this one I’m going to have to say, no.

I’m a geek for anything relating to the upcoming season 6 of 24, and I was pretty excited to see the prequel, but alas it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Truthfully, and pathetically, it seemed more like a Rav 4 commercial than an actual 24 affiliated prequel.

The video:

7 Months Later…

Jack is being held by the Chinese. They’re trying to get information out of Jack by torturing him. As we all know torture doesn’t faze Jack, which is why I guess they have been at this for the past 7 months.

After a session of torture two men, claiming to be Americans, come into his cell shooting all the guards. They say they’re there to rescue him. Jack follows them out to a Rav 4 that they’ve been hiding under some sort of camouflage blanket. That’s where it got pretty ridiculous. I haven’t seen such blatant product placement since Resse’s Pieces in ET. Just right there, brand new Rav 4. It reminded me of the commercial that’s right before the season 6 trailer.

Now I have faith that the writers and all the people involved will make season 6 another wonderful season. But, these prequels really need to go. This one wasn’t even up to “filler” status.

I was half expecting Kiefer to turn to the camera at the end and say, “Toyota and Rav 4 Moving Forward.”

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16 Responses to “24 Prequel Looks More Like a Rav 4 Commercial”

  1. 24, Day 6 Prequel « Lee Kelleher Says:

    […] 6 Prequel, some reckon it looks more like a RAV-4 commercial! » « 22:52 4/12/06 · permalink · linklog, tv,youtube […]

  2. Brian Says:

    Agreed… the only one that really brought forward new interesting information was the season 4 prequel, in itself notable mostly because it was the only time Jack Bauer dropped an f-bomb. Season 5 told us people were out to kill Jack and knew he wasn’t dead, which had approximately… nothing to do with the events of the ensuing season. This one is even worse. It just shows us that Jack Bauer’s getting tortured in China, something we already knew. Thumbs down, Toyota and writers, Thumbs down.

  3. Tim donnelly Says:

    Let’s not forget the Toyota Avalon ad that was supposed to be a season 5 preview. A preview that showed nothing about the upcoming season….nothing….oh yeah it showed us a prius as well….and an Avalon beating a big bad bmw 7 series. I understand the tv industry must re-coup lost ad revenue as a result of the tivo by using product placement but come on, loose the DVD infomercials that are disguised as special features.

  4. Jerome Brown Says:

    Isn’t it an oxymoron to be a TV critic and like 24? I mean seriously, the show really hasn’t been all that good since after the first (maybe second season). Hell, actually it hasn’t been all that good ever when you think about how little time the writers spend researching facts (esp. when it comes to technology which they write about cluelessly). I’ve tried to watch the show myself but, everytime they talk about firewall this or IP that, I look down only to find my fingers pressing buttons on the remote, and look up to see the channel that has changed. The show is at best too predictable, and at worst, … well.. unfortunately I can’t think of any witty rhetoric that fits my harsh view of it.

  5. chris Says:

    hey chloe, open up a socket for me!…

    Oh for the love of god, stop with all that pseudo-technobabble, it’s gotten old. 24 has gotten almost as bad as the movie hackers where they used a CAD program to hack into the governments computers. Sigh.

    And let’s not even get started with product placements

  6. Brett Says:

    I don’t know about you, but this is far from ad placement - how can you have a car chase without a shot of the car?

    Telltale signs did include the car never receiving any damage (damage = bad for the sponsors), and it stealing the show with a sneaky hiding near the end.

    Just a normal preview, whats the fuss??

  7. junger Says:

    I have to agree … it’s wasn’t that bad of an ad placement. Not as bad as last year’s, with the Prius.

    But you have to wonder just exactly how this story ties into season 6.

  8. Marko Says:

    I thought the clip was fine, could have been less “commercially” if they used at least a black car, which makes it more reliable.

  9. Stone Says:

    This is definitely ad placement, but it’s not new to 24. Ford paid millions of dollars for their cars to be in Season 4 so I guess its Toyota’s turn.

    Usually I don’t mind this but something’s off when you have a shiny new Rav 4 in the middle of China in the dead of night. They could at least put some dirt on it to make it seem realistic.

  10. Kilroy Says:

    This preview wasn’t all that bad. Certainly the Rav 4 was shown and yes it could have been black but that kind of makes it hard to see and well if you want to advertise a car seeing it is kind of a prereq. But it wasn’t overly done in my mind. What I thought was worse was that the Chinese were willing to take out a handfull of guards all to make this believable to kill the agent. Wouldn’t it had been just easier to kill both suspects in the first place? Then you wouldn’t have to torture Jack for info. I’m sure someone could replace both of those men in the work force. Expendability of personel is not a secret in the Chinese workforce. Unless of course there is some other sort of plan in the works I don’t see which I doubt. I still like the series even with all the incorrect tech talk and usage. It’s still exciting and with some suspension of disbelief it’s actually fun to watch.

  11. Konig Says:

    So are you against ANY products being used in the show? I mean c’mon, how many times do you see black Chevy Suburbans/Tahoes being used during the season?

  12. Prime News Blog » Blog Archive » Analysis: 24 Prequel Looks More Like a Rav 4 Commercial Says:

    […] Should 24 keep making the ‘prequels’ that they use for special features on the DVD’s? After watching this one I’m going to have to say, no. Read on for the commercial and an analysis of it.read more | digg story […]

  13. Kronos Says:

    How come people never complained about James Bond’s tech? Or the fact that the movies were big Aston-Martin advertisements? Because they held our interest, even though they were outlandishly written. Jack Bauer is the new James Bond. Hell, their initials are even the same.

  14. Potskie Says:

    ya that was some very blantant product placement it reminds me of the BMW mini series with Clive Owen show casing the Z8 i beleive it was

  15. Television » Analysis: 24 Prequel Looks More Like a Rav 4 Commercial Says:

    […] Should 24 keep making the ‘prequels’ that they use for special features on the DVD’s? After watching this one I’m going to have to say, no. Read on for the commercial and an analysis of it.read more | digg story […]

  16. Analysis: 24 Prequel Looks More Like a Rav 4 Commercial « TV Shows and Television Says:

    […] read more | digg story […]

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