Controversy w/GS350 "Symmetry" Commercial & 9/11
11-30-06, 08:41 AM
#1
Lexus Connoisseur
Thread Starter
Controversy w/GS350 "Symmetry" Commercial & 9/11
This would probably be a good Clubhouse-Debate discussion. It maybe a repost...I just ran across this recently.
Agency Dismisses Suggestion That Lexus Ad Uses 9/11 Imagery
AT FIRST, YOU CAN'T BELIEVE your eyes. But as you watch the ad for a new model Lexus, the more you are reminded of 9/11--and the more unsettling it becomes. In the dynamic 30-second spot by Team One Advertising, two sleek cars, identical except for color, tear around lower Manhattan at cinematic speeds. With an adrenaline buzz courtesy of professional drivers, the viewer soon realizes that it's a desperate race to get out of New York. A sign on the West Side Highway announces the Holland Tunnel. On the other side of the Hudson River, the cars screech to a halt at their destination: New Jersey.
Everything in the shot is symmetrical: two streetlamps, two buildings, two cars, two yellow lines on the street that draw the viewer to the Amex building--and the spot where the Twin Towers once stood. The voiceover concludes: "The new 303-horsepower LexusGS350. You can't lose."
It's an artful commercial, but the number of coincidences seems improbable--from the obsessive pairing of symmetrical objects to the shot of empty skyline. Finally, the assertion, "you can't lose." The viewer is affronted by an absurd denial of facts. The catchphrase flies in the face of reality: Clearly, we can lose, and on a terrifying scale. So what does the ad mean?
Meg Seiler, a spokesperson for Team One Advertising, says the ad "wasn't designed to have anything to do with 9/11," adding that she isn't sure anybody was aware of using Ground Zero as a backdrop. "It's just a beautiful shot of Manhattan for pure aesthetic reasons," she says. Since the ad is airing nationally, most viewers wouldn't notice the setting, Seiler believes, emphasizing that "there was no intentional New York focus, other than the city's challenging driving conditions."
Nor was the ad deliberately aired on 9/11, says Seiler. The ad began running nationally on Aug. 21 to coincide with Lexus' sponsorship of the U.S. Open. As for the 9/11 airing, "Monday Night Football" is "a good target audience." Seiler points out the spot aired all week on "The Tonight Show," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and "Late Show With David Letterman."
But on 9/11, the commercial's context was guaranteed to draw attention to the date, in a somewhat unfortunate proof that "engagement" exists. It also ran Monday Night on "The Colbert Report." Stephen Colbert addressed 9/11--and he even drew attention to TV ads during the program, zinging ABC in tongue-in-cheek fashion for not running spots during "The Path to 9/11." Colbert noted: "After the tragedy, the president told America, 'Go about your business.' ABC, your business is commercials. TV without ads is just what the terrorists want!"
VIDEO CLIP: http://youtube.com/watch?v=oQsgSIiRKQU
Originally Posted by by Erik Sass, Friday, Sep 15, 2006 Media Daily News
Agency Dismisses Suggestion That Lexus Ad Uses 9/11 Imagery
AT FIRST, YOU CAN'T BELIEVE your eyes. But as you watch the ad for a new model Lexus, the more you are reminded of 9/11--and the more unsettling it becomes. In the dynamic 30-second spot by Team One Advertising, two sleek cars, identical except for color, tear around lower Manhattan at cinematic speeds. With an adrenaline buzz courtesy of professional drivers, the viewer soon realizes that it's a desperate race to get out of New York. A sign on the West Side Highway announces the Holland Tunnel. On the other side of the Hudson River, the cars screech to a halt at their destination: New Jersey.
Everything in the shot is symmetrical: two streetlamps, two buildings, two cars, two yellow lines on the street that draw the viewer to the Amex building--and the spot where the Twin Towers once stood. The voiceover concludes: "The new 303-horsepower LexusGS350. You can't lose."
It's an artful commercial, but the number of coincidences seems improbable--from the obsessive pairing of symmetrical objects to the shot of empty skyline. Finally, the assertion, "you can't lose." The viewer is affronted by an absurd denial of facts. The catchphrase flies in the face of reality: Clearly, we can lose, and on a terrifying scale. So what does the ad mean?
Meg Seiler, a spokesperson for Team One Advertising, says the ad "wasn't designed to have anything to do with 9/11," adding that she isn't sure anybody was aware of using Ground Zero as a backdrop. "It's just a beautiful shot of Manhattan for pure aesthetic reasons," she says. Since the ad is airing nationally, most viewers wouldn't notice the setting, Seiler believes, emphasizing that "there was no intentional New York focus, other than the city's challenging driving conditions."
Nor was the ad deliberately aired on 9/11, says Seiler. The ad began running nationally on Aug. 21 to coincide with Lexus' sponsorship of the U.S. Open. As for the 9/11 airing, "Monday Night Football" is "a good target audience." Seiler points out the spot aired all week on "The Tonight Show," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" and "Late Show With David Letterman."
But on 9/11, the commercial's context was guaranteed to draw attention to the date, in a somewhat unfortunate proof that "engagement" exists. It also ran Monday Night on "The Colbert Report." Stephen Colbert addressed 9/11--and he even drew attention to TV ads during the program, zinging ABC in tongue-in-cheek fashion for not running spots during "The Path to 9/11." Colbert noted: "After the tragedy, the president told America, 'Go about your business.' ABC, your business is commercials. TV without ads is just what the terrorists want!"
VIDEO CLIP: http://youtube.com/watch?v=oQsgSIiRKQU
11-30-06, 09:00 AM
#2
Lexus Test Driver
I first read the article and though humm but after watching the commercial, it seems to me someone is trying a BIT to hard to make something out of nothing, dunno if that made sense 
11-30-06, 09:00 AM
#3
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OK, that's weird. When I saw that commercial, the first thought that came to my mind was 9/11. I don't know what it was that conjured those thoughts up though.
But, I see no reason for this to something that's newsworthy. I think it's time for the media to move on. Bad things happened on 9/11, but there's no reason to drag it out forever.
But, I see no reason for this to something that's newsworthy. I think it's time for the media to move on. Bad things happened on 9/11, but there's no reason to drag it out forever.
11-30-06, 09:38 AM
#6
Lexus Champion
That's freaking ridiculous. It's kinda like when somebody says something that COULD MAYBE KINDA SORTA be construed as perverted if somebody with a really sick mind connected the dots, but was it really the intention of the original statement (or in this case, commercial)? I reeeeeeally doubt it.
This reminds me of when people start playing Hillary Duff songs backwards and "finding" hidden pro-**** messages.
Get a life people.
I mean what would they serve to gain by having a 9/11 tie-in anyway?
I see it as them creating the add, and thinking like this:
We'll have the race in New York because these aren't race cars, they're every day driver cars that we want to market as high performance/race capable cars. Let's use one of the most dense urban environments out there that maintains a nice high-end feel (since new york is high dollar, yet very dense and urban). Plus being that it's an island, it gives us kind of a dramatic cinematic 'finish line' like you might see in a movie, instead of just some arbitrary humorous goal like a parking spot at the mall. (already been done).
Now since we're talking about two cars, both high performance and both viable choices, lets make the theme a little more artistic by ending it with a symmetrical view with two of the same, but slightly different GS cars.
Why was the 9/11 site backdrop used? I guess they wanted to show the finish line as an open and scenic area - if they just used more dense urban streets it wouldn't feel like they really 'made' it anywhere.
This reminds me of when people start playing Hillary Duff songs backwards and "finding" hidden pro-**** messages.
Get a life people.I mean what would they serve to gain by having a 9/11 tie-in anyway?
I see it as them creating the add, and thinking like this:
We'll have the race in New York because these aren't race cars, they're every day driver cars that we want to market as high performance/race capable cars. Let's use one of the most dense urban environments out there that maintains a nice high-end feel (since new york is high dollar, yet very dense and urban). Plus being that it's an island, it gives us kind of a dramatic cinematic 'finish line' like you might see in a movie, instead of just some arbitrary humorous goal like a parking spot at the mall. (already been done).
Now since we're talking about two cars, both high performance and both viable choices, lets make the theme a little more artistic by ending it with a symmetrical view with two of the same, but slightly different GS cars.
Why was the 9/11 site backdrop used? I guess they wanted to show the finish line as an open and scenic area - if they just used more dense urban streets it wouldn't feel like they really 'made' it anywhere.
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11-30-06, 09:53 AM
#8
I think they're right about the ad being aired nationally and people not even recognizing then backdrop. I personally saw the commercial a few times and never noticed the backdrop really, until now. All I saw were two GSs driving around a city.
11-30-06, 12:30 PM
#13
Lexus Champion
You guys think that's bad? This commercial was banned, despite them even putting a disclaimer at the bottom because they thought kids would emulate what they saw on the screen and go wreck their dad's vette. 
America is too sensitive and serious-minded these days.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NRtPXPlA1E4
America is too sensitive and serious-minded these days.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NRtPXPlA1E4
11-30-06, 12:35 PM
#14
You guys think that's bad? This commercial was banned, despite them even putting a disclaimer at the bottom because they thought kids would emulate what they saw on the screen and go wreck their dad's vette.
America is too sensitive and serious-minded these days.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NRtPXPlA1E4
America is too sensitive and serious-minded these days.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NRtPXPlA1E4
jk
11-30-06, 12:44 PM
#15
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You guys think that's bad? This commercial was banned, despite them even putting a disclaimer at the bottom because they thought kids would emulate what they saw on the screen and go wreck their dad's vette.
America is too sensitive and serious-minded these days.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NRtPXPlA1E4
America is too sensitive and serious-minded these days.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NRtPXPlA1E4