Toyota Australia and Saatchi & Saatchi Australia have launched ‘Mud Dance’, the latest instalment of the enduring ‘Don’t Send a Ute to Do a HiLux Job’ platform.
The new campaign transforms a familiar demonstration of off-road capability into an unexpected piece of entertainment, as a convoy of utes slips, slides and twirls its way down a muddy hillside.
Directed by Nick Kelly from MOFA and set to Mary Schneider’s rendition of ‘The Blue Danube’, the hero film follows a group of hopeful campers attempting to reach a coveted campsite at the top of a slippery summit. As the other utes become reluctant partners in an increasingly elaborate dance-off, HiLux stays out of the performance and gets on with the job.
“For decades, Australians have trusted HiLux to get the job done in some of the toughest conditions imaginable. ‘Mud Dance’ builds on that enduring Unbreakable spirit, following the success of ‘Don’t Send a Ute to Do a HiLux Job’ and bringing HiLux capability to life in a way that is unmistakably Toyota: confident, entertaining and grounded in a truth our customers already know,” said Vin Naidoo, chief marketing officer at Toyota Australia.
“HiLux has one of Australia’s great advertising legacies, built by turning serious capability into populist entertainment. That legacy gives us both the permission and the responsibility to keep finding fresh, unexpected ways to demonstrate the quality, durability and reliability Australians have trusted for generations,” added Mandie van der Merwe, chief creative officer at Saatchi & Saatchi Australia.
“Toyota understands that creativity is a genuine differentiator, and throwing a fleet of utes down a muddy hill to Mary Schneider’s yodelled rendition of ‘The Blue Danube’ is a wonderfully charming way to prove a serious product point. It’s bold, culturally distinctive and enormously entertaining.”
The campaign launched before the first bounce of the 2026 AFL Grand Final and will roll out nationally across television, OOH, digital and social.
Credits:
Client – Toyota Motor Corporation Australia
Anthony Nobile, Senior Manager, Marketing Operations
Kylie Graham, Manager, Communications – Commercial & Brand
Raffaele Laino, Senior Brand Specialist
Brooke Butkiewicz, Senior Brand Specialist
Isobel Kelly, Brand Specialist
Agency – Saatchi & Saatchi Australia
Mandie van der Merwe, Chief Creative Officer
Avish Gordhan, Chief Creative Officer
James Cowie, Executive Creative Director
Pierro Ruzzene, Executive Creative Director
Carlo Mazzarella, Creative Director
Michael Demosthenous, National Director of Production
Lauren Woods, Senior Integrated Producer
Ben Court, Chief Client Officer
Joe Heath, Executive Planning Director
Zoe Kypros, Group Business Director
Melanie Bunn, Senior Business Director
Aine Neenan, Senior Business Manager
Noah Thompson, Business Manager
Media – Spark Foundry Australia
TV PRODUCTION CREDITS
Production Company – MOFA
Nick Kelly, Director
Llew Griffiths, Managing Director / Executive Producer
Claire Perkins, Executive Producer
Stu Giles, Producer
James Brown, DOPkins, Executive Producer
Patrick Bennet, Production Design
Harry Dakanalis Pro Action Stunts, Stunt Co-ordination
Casting – Studio P Casting
Editorial-Offline – ARC Edit
Editor: Jack Hutchings
Offline Executive Producer: Winnie O’Neil
Post-Production – Blockhead VFX
Matt Fezz, Colourist
Sound – Squeak E Clean
Ceri Davies, Executive Producer
Paul Le Couteur, Head of Sound
Music
Anton Trailer, Music Supervision
STILLS PRODUCTION CREDITS
Production Company – Photoplay
Michael Corridore, Photographer
Anna Cuthill / Brendan Lee, Producer
Prodigious, Retouching
