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Comment by reitzensteinm | Hacker News Reader

If you are arguing that this is a PR thing, it's possible that getting it in the NY Times was, but there is a pretty solid basis to the story.

In fact, most of the reporting seems to be an update of a few War Nerd pieces combined together. (I'm not implying plagiarism, just that Toyotas are massively over represented in low-intensity conflicts, and that more than one person has noticed it)

The Hilux is featured prominently in William Gibson's new book. This might be a reason for the recent interest.

I have suspected "product placement" in his books before. Volkswagen Phaeton's seemed a bit overly prominent in "Spook Country".

I think he's just fascinated by certain things. The Phaeton is an amazing car and outside of VW's normal lineup. The Hilux is huge all over the world, and virtually unheard of here. And yes, the Jankel armored version is pretty impressive:) Having met him, I HIGHLY doubt he's paid for product placement. I think he's just INTO things in a very geeky way. He focused on Curtas more than Phaetons anyhow:)

Yeah, I concur. He's talked about it on Twitter (people have asked why he mentions specific products) and he said that he just likes to include things he finds interesting. I think for the current trilogy it actually works really well, as it keeps everything grounded in reality.

Interesting. You think this is PR?

I was actually just looking for an old Tacoma/Hilux, although I first heard about their legendary status on Top Gear.

It's definitely PR.

"Buy a Toyota Hilux - the only truck endorsed by the Taliban, the Janjaweed and the Islamic Courts of Somalia."

They could even get Joshua 'General Butt Naked' Blahyi as their spokesperson. "After sacrificing a small child to the devil, I like to strip naked and drive away in my Toyota Hilux. No matter what the terrain, my Hilux will help me escape from angry parents and local militias out for justice."

Exactly. It's "edgy".

I'm not sure about the original hilux on top gear, but I'm pretty suspicious about some more recent episodes. There was an episode in S15 where May drove to the top of a Volcano (in a water/alcohol-cooled hilux). And every shot of the car looked like it had just been freshly polished/waxed.

It could be PR. PR use to hide facts, but in this particular case what they say is real, not fake.

When my uncle(missionary) showed me photos of his travels around South America and Africa all the cars were Toyota pick ups(Venezuela, Amazon Jungle, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia).

When I asked him he told me the word "Toyota" in many places is what we in Spain call "4x4".

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