Lexus next month "will appear in the Super Bowl for just the second time" with a spot that "will simply show its new NX vehicle being put through its paces in a visually elegant fashion, all to the sound of music that has the noises of the car (think dashboard clicks, squealing tires and slamming doors) embedded in its beats," according to Brian Steinberg of VARIETY. The 30-second ad is "set to air sometime during the first half of the game." Lexus execs said that the NX is an SUV with "more luxurious driving dynamics than its peers and will appeal to younger consumers and men." Lexus "has tapped independent ad agency Walton Isaacson" for what will be the firm’s "first Super Bowl ad." The spot "features no surprise appearances by a movie star or jokes about guys getting hit in the head or crotch, gimmicks that rear their head at least once in every Super Bowl." Walton Isaacson co-Founder Aaron Walton said, “The star of this spot should be the car" (
VARIETY.com, 1/14). ADWEEK's Lauren Johnson noted the Japanese car company "last ran a Super Bowl spot in 2012, when it promoted the 2013 Lexus GS by showing it breaking out of a box." Lexus' return "is interesting since a number of automakers ... are sitting out of the huge TV event" (
ADWEEK.com, 1/14).
