Toyota Prius pulls ad that teases Fresno

Toyota Motor Corp. has pulled an ad that likened Fresno to an outdated pit stop after Sen. Dianne Feinstein wrote the car company to complain, reports the Associated Press.

The commercial depicts people driving the fuel-efficient Prius in an imagined future in which “gas stations will become nothing more than low-budget tourist stops. Like ghost towns ... or Fresno.”

That slap got no mileage with Mayor Alan Autry, who asked Feinstein to intervene. Friday, Toyota officials recalled the spot produced for auto dealers in the Southeast U.S., and edited out any mention of the word Fresno.

Officials in the San Joaquin Valley’s largest city say Fresno may not have a beach or a bay,
but it’s the best place in the state to raise a family.