The first car I purchased was a Toyota Corolla, and I later replaced it with a swoopy MR2.  I sure did love that car.   The first car my husband bought was a Celica and he managed to turn that ride into a screaming yellow rocket that he took on midnight runs through Golden Gate Park.  Tough to see Toyota going through this PR nightmare, but here is how they are using social media:

toyota.com/recall set up to provide information for consumers.

pressroom.toyota.com/pr/tms/default.aspx set up to provide info to both consumers and the media.

facebook.com/home.php?#!/toyota is hosting a vibrant conversation with over 81,000 fans.

twitter.com/toyota daily communication providing additional info regarding concerns.

youtube.com/user/ToyotaUSA used to post informational videos.

toyotaconversations.com recently launched as a more comprehensive place to listen and post issues regarding recall issues.

From giant brands, to roach coaches, social media can be used in a meaningful and effective way to growing the bottom line. Check out a few creative applications of social media:

Center for Disease Control: Used Twitter to grow more than 1,250,000 followers, using the 140-character press release to disseminate important H1N1 info in real-time.

Kogi: Alice Shin helped to build a $2 million roach coach...no, I mean, Korean BBQ food truck service. First, by using Twitter to announce where the truck would be during the lunch rush and then building a blog, generating buzz for their chef and taco specials.

UPS:  Hires approximately 50,000 seasonal workers during 4th quarter. They launched an online Web 2.0 effort in which applicants could view online videos about their workplace from current employees.   They received more 150,000 applicants at a fraction of the cost and without compromise to hiring standards.