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Lexus Automobiles Marketed to Assholes
So it looks like this season's batch of Lexus television commercials continue on in the fine tradition of years past starring yuppies seeking last minute tax write-offs by purchasing new luxury cars and SUVs, adorning them with red bows and giving them as gifts.
These commercials go no short distance to make Lexus and it's customers look like a bunch of pretentious assholes flaunting their wealth for all to see.
Though I don't have a recorded copy of the commercial I have in mind, there was one scene that was simply precious; some guy is presenting his (presumed) wife a lexus in their driveway and she's all teared up and hugs him. The camera pans across the street and there is a crowd of people cheering.
A close study of the freeze-frame may prove me wrong, but at a glance these people sure looked like their clothes were more ragged than the "stars" of the commercial. I'd almost go so far as to say they looked like a bunch of homeless people acting like it was ok for them to be on the street, so long as this couple was happy.
Another commercial pits a black woman against a white one as they try to figure out who the mysterious "gift car" parked between their two property lines is intended for. You can see the anxiety in their faces and the commercial ends with neither one willing to go back inside until they have their answer. This automobile is in no subtle way, attached to their societal rank in their neighborhood, which is very disappointing to watch. Watching two shallow and petty people lusting after an object does not make casual observers feel the same.
These commercials may actually represent the image that Lexus wants to cultivate and celebrate but it's nothing I would get within a ten mile radius of, no matter what my wealth or the quality of Lexus products.
Posted by Aaron R. Deutsch on November 29, 2006 10:09 AM