Lexus has been playing hard to get (fitting given their “pursuit” campaign). Having introduced a three new ads that dive to the heart of “inspirational advertising” during the 2007 Golden Globes, the ads were nowhere to be found, completely shaking my confidence in YouTube and TV pirates everywhere.

The ads are signifigant in a number of ways:

• They don’t show, or mention, at anytime, a specific car.
• They are inspirational rather than aspirational.
• They connect Lexus with creativity and work rather than luxury and status.

These three points are a departure from their current and historic campaigns which focus on passion, status, iteration, and continuous improvement, always showing and basing the visuals on specific car models. These ads extend their concept of the “pursuit of perfection” through iteration and passion and apply it to other disciplines.

I first heard about these ads from my girlfriend, who hates advertising, but she was gushing about how great they were. She said the ads were so well done, so restrained, and so thoughtful that she couldn’t help but associate that thoughtfullness with Lexus and their cars.

Congratulations on a breakthrough campaign, Lexus. My only criticism is that the ads, given how much buzz they’ve been getting via blogs and word-of-mouth, they were impossible to find.

Soapbox Alert:
To extrapolate to a larger issue, I strongly believe that all companies should make all of their spots available either on their website, or via direct link to pages on video sites like YouTube, AOL Video, etc. Companies need to embrace their brand advocates and provide them with the tools for their own entertainment and evangelism. If people are looking for your commercials, they are the people you need, and you want to make it as easy as possible to interact with and promote your brand.

Enjoy!

Lexus Commercial - Ruby Slippers

Lexus Commercial - Composer

Lexus Commercial - Hello

technorati tags:video, lexus, commercial, soapbox, advertising, inspirational-advertising