Hot Wheels shows that not every brand needs a higher purpose

Hot Wheels are awesome. Ad Nut's oak tree has its share of the inexpensive toys and Ad Nut has spent many hours happily playing with them alongside car-obsessed offspring.

But this ad... It has destroyed Ad Nut's ridiculous meter.

We're led to believe Hot Wheels-brand toy cars are an important tool in building a well-adjusted child who's not afraid to take risks.

Ad Nut actually buys the underlying premise. In fact, every parent recognizes that any kind of play situation with any kind of toy (or no toy at all) can be a "teaching moment"—a chance to impart values and life skills such as patience.

But if any toy can facilitate that process, then expecting people to love your particular brand of metal and plastic vehicles more than any other for that reason? It's just too much. You're trying too hard and you look silly.

You make toy cars. They're cool. Kids love to collect them. Parents appreciate that they're cheap. It's enough.

Ad Nut thanks the ad nuts at Campaign US, who covered this work first (and included the creative credits).

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. Check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame.