It's NFL playoff season, which means that manufacturers are ramping up their advertising in anticipation for The Big Game. While Lexus isn't taking the wraps off a new Superbowl ad this week, it is debuting a new series of spots under the title, "The Hard Way."
All of the commercials are available on the Lexus YouTube channel
, or by going to the new microsite Lexus has set up. There, the message is typical Lexus: Our cars are better because we sweat the details.The newest and most eye-catching ad is called "Chain." In order to demonstrate the strength of its chassis and reinforce its image of superior engineering, a crane lifts an LS 460L into the air using only cables attached to its suspension mounts. Then, four more Lexus vehicles -- an RX, GS, ES and finally an IS -- are attached to the LS, again using only cables, and lifted along with it. As the resulting chain of vehicles is suspended in midair, an LF-A parks beneath them, and the driver confidently gets out and walks away.
It's a neat visual, and Lexus swears up and down that it did the ad without modifying the vehicles in any way -- all were production models with full drivetrains and interiors -- and that no camera tricks were involved in lifting the cars off the ground. To prove the point, there's even a "how they did it" video, which shows them testing the strength of the LS using two heavy-duty tow trucks. A USC physicist and engineer were on hand to validate the authenticity as well.
Is it real? A camera trick? Computer graphics with some strategically paid-off engineers? I think it looks legit, but I'm not so sure you couldn't do the same thing with a few BMWs...or a bunch of Chevy Malibus for that matter. Check it out for yourself, and post your thoughts on it below. In the meantime, I'll bet another Lexus-inspired episode of Mythbusters is in the works.