Toyota Prius and the West Wing

I don't watch the West Wing, but I read an interesting article by the Motley Fool by Rich Smith regarding Toyota Prius placement on the aforementioned show.

Apparently, two weeks ago, West Wing actors mentioned the Prius 10 times during the course of the popular NBC sitcom. The show apparently took on the conflict Americans have with their love-hate relationship with gas-guzzling vehicles.

Essentially, the show endorsed buying a Prius as the best course of action American's can take to deal with the world's oil crisis.

Well, we agree.

The only other interesting side note, Mr. Smith points out, is that the hybrid movement is synonymous with the Prius. Because of this, Smith states, "When everybody talks about you as though you're the only game in town, before long, you are."

Well, the truth is, the Prius is the only game in town. The only other full hybrid available is the Ford Escape hybrid, which is barely available. Only the Honda Accord hybrid, which is more of a Medium - somewhere between a Mild and a Full - provides some level of competition to the Prius.

Ultimately, Toyota deserves some free publicity for the risks it took developing such innovative technology.

Unfortunately, this buzz is wasted to some extent. Due to limited hybrid battery production, the Prius demand is doomed to far outweigh supply for some time, which will either quash the hybrid movement, or provide plenty of time for competitors to catch up.