Hasta La Creative!

Team One runs through a list sins encouraged by the Lexus F performance line in their new spot, “Temptation.”

According to the 60-second spot, the Lexus F, “Provokes lust, unleashes wrath, incites envy, and elicits pride.” Absent are two of my personal favorites, sloth and gluttony, which Team One decided (understandably) don’t really do much to sell luxury performance vehicles. Greed is skipped over because they’re trying to get people to shell out a lot of money for a car here.

The spot, slickly produced by RSA, does a better job of tying the vehicle to certain sins than others. Lust is embodied by a couple making out in the rain, after which the Lexus F happens to exit a garage, not doing much to show how it “provokes lust.” Oh wait, it’s because the guy stops making out for a second to check out the Lexus F. Ugh. The rest of the sins are dealt with a bit better, with “unleashes wrath” tied not to actual anger but the car’s power, and envy and pride dealt with in more obvious ways. Perhaps most importantly, “Temptation” makes the Lexus F look good, even if its concluding line, “Temptation comes in many heart-pounding forms, but only one letter” is a bit weak. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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From Team One and director Jonas Åkerlund (whose music video reel includes Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up,” Blink 182′s “I Miss You,” and Madonna’s “Ray of Light”) comes a new campaign for the Lexus IS. As you can see, Lexus is really trying to market their new luxury sedan as a high-fashion, chique automobile, which strays a bit from the brand’s usual “Hey, you want a luxury car, but you don’t want to go nuts?” appeal. And, considering Åkerlund’s impressive resume, who better to pay a ton of money to make your product pop on TV?

Both “Crowd” and “Color Shift” succeed in that they’re flashy, somewhat dystopian depiction of urban wealth looks starkly different than any other car advertising you’ll see during commercial breaks. However, will consumers buy that Lexus is a brand that can adeptly align itself with fashionable, rebellious youth? Credits after the jump.

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