I have a great love for the Japanese Lexus GS with the Passionate Black interior, so I was excited to discover its commercial on Youtube today. Too bad it’s just recycled footage from a previous advert:

This is a stark reminder of the cultural differences between Japan and North America, no way this commercial would fly stateside. The Passionate Black interior, though, is a different story altogether, and I’m continuing to cross my fingers that it makes a North American appearance.

I remember hearing about it last year, but this is the first time I’ve seen this Lexus commercial detailing the life of a US Open tennis ball after its day in the spotlight:

Quirky and cute, it’s a neat take on the standard sponsorship advertisement, and makes you think, what really does happen to all those tennis balls?

We’ve seen some photos of the Japanese special edition Elegant White Lexus IS, and now here’s a weird little commercial to go along with it:

It wouldn’t be so strange if the cat didn’t seem to have such a bizarre pose, but it is what it is.

(I still can’t stop thinking about the Passionate Black GS limited edition. If it came to North America, it would immediately take #1 spot in the “My Next Car” sweepstakes.)

A couple weeks ago, when it was announced that Lexus would be promoting the IS-F strictly through movie theaters rather than a traditional TV campaign, it had me doubting just how soon the adverts would show up online, but as it turns out, the wait wasn’t very long at all:

If I had to choose, I’d say I liked the “blue streak” commercial best. I like the length of the ads, and I can imagine they would make a fairly strong impression on a giant movie theatre, sandwiched between other, longer ads. (My main complaint with commercials before movies is that it’s always these drawn-out, extended versions of existing ads.)

I noticed earlier this week that Lexus was featuring the ES 350 heavily on their US site, and it seems to have extended to TV as well:

Rather than a national TV campaign, Lexus has decided to bring the IS-F to the big screen, using movie cinemas to advertise the new super-sedan:

Brian Bolain, national interactive automotive events manager, says the F campaign will not use national TV ads at all. He says the cinema focus was appropriate because in no other medium could Lexus be guaranteed delivery of a full, directional audio. “The dynamics of the vehicle have to come across. [With in-cinema ads] you can play with surround-sound [to show] that the car is gigantic.”

“It was very important that this creative look and feel nothing like traditional Lexus advertising,” he says. “Typically, everything we do is light, and very refreshing; this needed to be more aggressive and menacing,” he says.

Bolain says that although there will be no national broadcast ads for F, “dealers liked the cinema ads so much that they asked that we create a broadcast spot. We took three fifteens and glued them together to make thirty,” eliminating repetitive text and footage.

Each ad will be 15 seconds long, and will play between the other, longer advertisements shown before a movie.

[Source: Marketing Daily]

Here’s an absolutely brilliant commercial from Lexus Australia introducing the 2006 GS redesign:

I wasn’t all that sure what was going on in the first ten seconds, but once the car started bleeding and sweating, it all came together. The thing that impressed me the most, though, was that although it’s a fantastic concept, the implementation is even better. Just perfect.

The new Lexus Power of H commercial debuted yesterday, and today has surfaced on Youtube:

After reading the synopsis released a couple days ago, I wasn’t sure how the commercial was going to pan out, but the idea is fairly strong and well executed. Most important is that Lexus has moved away from touting the “green” features of hybrids, there isn’t an environmental tone at all. At first, this confused me, I wasn’t sure what the commercial was actually saying, but I was looking at it the wrong way. The general public already knows about hybrid technology and its benefits, but they might not realize how many hybrids Lexus has available. This is really about brand awareness, not technology awareness.

***

Also, just a note about Youtube videos — I’ve gotten some emails from people digging through my archives only to find that Lexus commercials and video clips are no longer available due to copyright infringement. There isn’t much I can do about this, save hosting the videos myself, and all that would do is bring Lexus’ lawyers to my doorstep. My advice is watch early, you never know when the clip is going to disappear.

Focusing on the importance of the letter H, the new Lexus hybrid marketing campaign starts today. Here’s the synopsis, from Lexus’ press release:

The multi-platform campaign, which debuts today, communicates Lexus’ hybrid leadership and highlights the significance of h on a Lexus vehicle—which distinguishes hybrid from non-hybrid vehicles and symbolizes Lexus’ commitment to alternative power train solutions. It is part of a core belief that technology can make anything happen and is a catalyst for change.

The TV commercial presents a glimpse into a world without h. The h is missing from key landmarks, computer keyboards and the alphabet in schools. The viewer begins to wonder where the h has gone. Then they see, it has moved to a better place, a world with the Lexus hybrid—a place that looks forward and believes in change. There is no better place for an h to be than on the rear badging of a Lexus hybrid vehicle.

All the advertising points to a new Lexus mini-site, which isn’t just a vehicle showcase, but also a guide to environmental living and a gateway to an official Lexus hybrid forum hosted by Yahoo!. What’s interesting is that the forum has existed since 2006, though it’s unclear if it’s been official all this time, or simply appropriated.

I also spotted a couple teaser adverts online:

I’ll follow up once we see the commercial online.

Here’s the full press release

It turns out the IS-F isn’t the first time Lexus has marketed a vehicle as the opposite of what you’d expect from the company, take a listen to the tagline of this 1996 LX 450 commercial:

“It’s everything a Lexus is, and everything a Lexus isn’t.” sounds pretty close to the IS-F’s “Everything you thought we weren’t” tagline.

(Perhaps Lexus should consider an off-shoot brand and just make the opposite of every car in their lineup.)