Niche of the week: Toyota’s prisoner brand

Reading Virginia Heffernan’s column just now, this week on the subject of an Internet discussion board called Prison Talk — which she writes serves “family and friends of the incarcerated” — I was a little surprised by passing mention of one of the advertisers there: There’s a book of tips for people headed to prison, and there’s Western Union, and then there’s … the Toyota Matrix? (Apparently the car’s slogan is: “Get in touch with your dark side.”)

I wonder what positioning strategy it is that led the planner to do a buy on Prison Talk?