http://adage.com/article/special-rep...owl-ad/312083/

Watch: Black Panther Stars in Lexus Super Bowl Ad

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When most brands talk about luring younger buyers, millennials or Gen Z kids come to mind. But Lexus will settle for getting a few more fortysomethings in the fold. Aging down is one of the goals for Lexus' Black Panther-themed Super Bowl spot starring the Marvel superhero and the new 2018 Lexus LS 500 F Sport performance sedan. An extended cut of the ad was released today. Lexus is targeting buyers ages 45 to 55 with the new LS. That's significantly younger than the average age of current LS buyers, which hovers in the upper 60s, according to the brand. Lexus vehicles don't come cheap—the suggested retail price for the flagship 2018 LS 500 is $75,000— so it's not surprising that a lot of younger folks can't afford them. This ain't Honda, after all.

But with the new LS, Lexus marketers are hoping to lure younger buyers who are more style and performance-minded, says Lexus Marketing VP Cooper Ericksen. "We are really opening up this LS product to a much broader audience than we've had in the last several years," he says.

The ad is by Lexus' multicultural agency, Walton Isaacson. A 30-second version will air in the third quarter of the Feb. 4 game on NBC. That is 12 days before the Marvel film, "Black Panther," hits theaters. The film tells the story of T'Challa, aka the Black Panther, as he returns home to an isolated, technologically advanced African nation to succeed his father as king.

The Super Bowl ad, called "Long Live the King," includes footage from the film, which stars Chadwick Boseman. Lexus has product placement in the actual movie with another model, the 2018 Lexus LC 500 luxury performance coupe. The LS is not in the movie, so the ad includes specially shot footage. The spot shows the Black Panther recovering stolen vibranium, a mythical ore found only in his African home, Wakanda. The ad's soundtrack is "Legend Has It" by Run the Jewels. It was directed by Samuel Bayer and shot in downtown Los Angeles at night.

Lexus earlier this week released a separate co-branded spot with Marvel that plugs the film and the LC. The Lexus-Marvel collaboration also includes a graphic novel called "Black Panther: Soul of a Machine" that was released last year at Comic-Con.

Super Bowl ads with superhero tie-ins are not new, of course. Marvel joined with Coke in 2016, for instance, in a spot that used Hulk and Ant-Man. And in 2005 Visa ran a spot featuring Captain America, Spider-Man and Thor.

The trick for brands is to make sure that the superheros don't overshadow their products. Ericksen says Lexus ensured the car was integral to the ad. The spot showcases the car's handling dynamics, for instance, he says. "There will be some people that see that ad and may think more Black Panther than Lexus," he concedes. "But I think on whole we are going to open up the Lexus LS to a massive amount of people that wouldn't have normally come across the LS."

 

In before those that will be offended

 

 

Those had BETTER be good ads, considering what they cost. Last year, Super Bowl sponsors paid an average of $5 million dollars for a 30-second spot (that's over $166,000 a second).....might be even more this time, although, because of the flag/national anthem controversy, NFL ratings are down the year, and Super Bowl viewership might not be quite what it has been in the past.

 

The 5.0 really rips!

 

why would anyone be offended?

 

Gonna pass on Superbowl this time. Overhyped.

 

Man, just when I sold my RC F 'cause I had no use for a 2-door RWD performance car... and now I want an LC... LOL

The ad works!

 

If you plan on marketing a $100K car to people who read comic books and go to super hero CGI movies or comic cons, it's a great ad. But in general, like a lot of Super Bowl ads - it will soon recede into the memory of the movie that forms the backdrop.

The movie is nothing more than another of Hollywood's predictable stock blockbuster openers for the new year. A lot riding on it, so it will basically mean: if the movie is a success, then the ad will be considered a success. Movie flops, then the ad goes down with it because it's not that creative other than the CGI and stock predictable characters with thick African accents.

The best ads in general, and the best Super Bowl ads are always very human vs cold or soulless marketing devices. Does anyone even remember the best ads from Super Bowl LI or L? Without Googling? Yep, that's how short our collective memory is. It's just a fast food mc-ad age now. These ads get overhyped because someone realized that talking about ads is a form of advertising. Who were the performers of the halftime show at Super Bowl in 2016, 2017? See, you have to Google to look it up.

Memorable ads kinda stick with you, year after year. Trendy ads don't. The ad is slick and well produced, but I'd say Lexus wants African people to buy LCs and LS vehicles.

The best ads use creative minds to go against conventional wisdom and reverse a group think mindset that is the basis of most badly done commercial advertising. Paying $7.7M is a Toyota/Lexus decision and that of their ad agency, but boy what a gamble.

 

Another massive fail by the Lexus ad agency.

 

really... really?

 

Let me add one more - Really?

 

 

hey, I was born in Africa, I'm not black but whatever, and I agree. REALLY? Just because it's tied in with an African themed comic? Is that the explanation for Amazon's product placement in Wonder Woman? Or was it just what it was a marketing tie in?

 

Can't WAIT to hear this explanation lol