Toyota
'The Station Cafeteria' Pop-up Drive-thru
Agency
AKQA
Location
Dubai
Creative Direction
Taraka 'TK' Tennakoon
Collaborators
Simon Reid - Executive Creative Director, Valerie Sandoval & Mohamed Dahab - Art Directors, Harvey Ongogan - Designer, Beverney Shane - Social coverage, Sahil Assadi - Digital CX, Amit Hasija, Savio Dias, Jandri Angelo, Islam Momtaz & Kalani Soyer - Production, Vylan Dalmaida & Chirag Khushalani - Strategy
Creating connection through culture.
A unique driving ritual of the United Arab Emirates proved to be the perfect moment to connect with the nation’s youth for the launch of the 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser.
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The ‘Late Night Cafeteria Run’ is an urban subculture in its own right. These midnight drives to street cafeterias to grab a ‘shawarama’ & juice - delivered curb-side and savoured with friends - is a tradition that has been enjoyed by young drivers across the country.
Our idea was the 'Station Cafeteria' - a collaboration with Dubai’s most iconic street cafeteria Al Ijaza to create an urban, drive-thru cultural experience.
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‘Station Cafeteria’ was the world’s first Land Cruiser-themed pop-up, delighting a new generation of fans. The experience ran over three jam-packed weekends and featured a limited edition menu, a hype drop of exclusive merch and private carhop test drives.
Reimagining the cafeteria culture aesthetic
The experience's design was inspired by the city’s original street-side eateries and night life. The result came to life as a contemporary explosion of gritty neon colours, bold expression and high-kitsch.
Campaign Merch: Take home the story
To commemorate this urban cultural moment, we created a capsule collection of exclusive merch. The drop included sleeved hype tees, black trucker caps, air fresheners, smartphone decals and more. Drawing on contemporary graffiti-style illustrations, familiar typography and cafeteria codes, stray cats became cultural mascots and attire featured bold graphic proclamations.
Creating Taste: The Menufesto
We worked with Al Ijaza’s street savvy chefs to co-create a limited, nine-item menu, served only on weekends. The menu featured cafeteria classics, each one with an adventure-themed twist to celebrate the Toyota Land Cruiser and its many regional incarnations over the years. In true cafeteria fashion, drivers would honk their horns and get their order delivered curbside.
Results & Impact
The Station Cafeteria became the talk of the town, even catching the attention of Hypebeast Arabia - the region’s ultimate curator of cool.
The pop-up experience increased test drive sign-ups by 36% with a 2.1-million social media reach.
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The ‘Land Cruiser’ Juice - a limited edition beverage created exclusively for the experience - became such a local sensation that fans asked that it be included in Al Ijaza’s permanent menu, ensuring that the Land Cruiser becomes a part of UAE’s street culture legacy.
News Coverage
The unique nature of the pop-up and its resonance with local street culture received coverage in leading news portals, including Gulf Buzz, AutoDrift and Zawya.
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AKQA
The project was featured on AKQA.com, marking the Dubai studio's first entry into this prestigious showcase of global work.