So how do you redeem yourself after a recall catastrophe? Toyota rises from the ashes with an aggressive European ad campaign which costs the company $26.3 million. After all, good reputations do cost a lot of money. This is all necessary, according to Toyota, to get back the trust of its consumers, especially the European market.

The ad campaign in Europe includes print, online, and pan-TV exposure. Who stars in the said ads? Assembly line worker Bridie Tucker, who works for the company’s factory in Burnaston Central England, takes one for the team. While the film rolls, he tells consumers that whenever he spots a problem, he just needs to pull the cord and the production line stops. The model won’t be released until the problem has been dealt with.

The particular assembly line featured in the ad campaign makes mid-sized Avensis and Auris-compact. Tucker also mentions how he has pulled the Andon cord “a thousand times”. Whoever wrote the script for the ad also managed to throw in the keyphrases “personally responsible” and “highest quality car” into Tucker’s spiel.

According to Toyota, the TV rendition of the skit should be ready this month. It will make their premier in CNN and BBC World. The print ads will also be published in business newspapers. The ads were already released in Germany and the UK. The company is also eyeing other key European markets namely Spain, France and Italy. The ads should run through these countries by July, at the latest.

According to Andrea Formica, Toyota’s head of sales and marketing, the ads were inspired by the very people manufacturing and retailing the cars across the continent. The brand marketing experts at NetBrands are keeping a close eye on the investment, and we’ll report back with their findings early 2011.