The RAV4 will take you past your comfort zone — but in comfort. So goes the moral of the spicy story told in the 2019 RAV4 commercial ‘Bring the Heat’ which shows two couples trying to leave the everyday behind and spice things up — literally! They hit one restaurant for some hot stuff, but they’re not satisfied. They hit another one after they “turn it up a notch.” But then they decide to go “off the map” to find the real deal when it comes to spice. Next the RAV4 delivers them to a cabin called Zelma’s Porch where a laughing hostess makes them sweat and swoon with a peppery concoction that evidently burns like the sun.
There isn’t much dialogue in the 30-second spot, but there is the persistent groove and refrain of “Fire”. That’s courtesy of the one and only Ohio Players. The R&B Music Hall of Fame inductees also cooked up a hot mix in their day, combining R&B, soul, and funk. The Ohio Players formed in 1959 and went through multiple iterations with dozens of band members over the years. They put out 16 albums in total — and caught fire themselves with “Fire”, “Funky Worm“, and “Love Rollercoaster” in the 1970s when they received big airplay on AM and FM radio. It’s said that none other than Stevie Wonder knew “Fire” was destined to be a hit the first time he heard it. The band was known for its sexy album covers in addition to its sound.
