The Toyota Scion is hot. So hot, in fact, that demand is greater than supply. (Personally I think the car is boxy and ugly, but I’m not among the hip trendsetters making the Scion the “it” cool car.) When most American businesses are faced with the enviable problem of having demand for their products exceed supply, the solution is obvious: increase production. Run with a winner. Milk the trend.

But according to the Wall Street Journal, Toyota is doing the reverse. They are cutting production and reducing their already meager ad spend. Toyota knows that it’s hard to stay cool if you get too hot. Too many Scions tooling around in the un-cool parts of town, driven by wannabees won’t help Scion in the long run. At least that’s what the marketing folks at Toyota believe. But they may be wrong. What made the Scion hip and trendy? Was it well crafted and strategically placed marketing? Was it the funky, unconventional (call it ugly) design? Or was it an accident?

It could be that the Scion’s coolness was just a fluke, an automotive genetic mutation, in which case the fad will fade with or without an increase in production. Or maybe it is possible for something to be embraced by a lot of square moms and dorky dweebs and still be cool. Ikea is cool. Target is cool. The ipod? Still cool… for now… I think.

-Jeff