Lexus Recreates Iconic Champagne Glass Commercial
Lexus pays tribute to their groundbreaking ad spot with a very cool modern redo.
Recreating a Legend
Without question, Lexus' iconic 1989 commercial depicting the LS400 balancing a tower of champagne glasses while making a 145 mph dyno run was one of the driving factors behind the brand's early success. So after 30 years of making some of the world's finest luxury machines, Lexus decided to recreate that advert in this very cool little clip.
Modern Interpretation
This time around, however, a new Lexus LS 500 is the star of the commercial. Well, except for Toyota boss Akio Toyoda, who injects a little welcomed humor in the video with his clumsy attempt at stacking champagne glasses. But in all fairness, we'd have a hard time pulling this off, too.
Smooth Operator
Back in the original commercial's heyday, the point of the spot was to prove that Lexus' big sedan was one of the smoothest running vehicles on the planet, despite packing a 4.0-liter V8 under the hood. Clearly, the new 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V6 in the LS 500 is every bit a smooth operator as the original.
Minor Setback
Toyoda does a nice job of stacking up the first few glasses but runs into a problem once he reaches the upper levels. He needs a step ladder to get up there, for starters. And after stumbling a little, the top glass takes a tumble and smashes on the ground. Pretty sure that wasn't part of the original ad.
Still Works
He does manage to get the last glass up top with the help of one of those robot arm things. Then, fingers crossed, he starts the car up and begins to gain speed on the "dyno." Once he reaches 145 miles-per-hour, Toyoda giggles and exclaims "it still works!"
Looking Back
It's a short but very entertaining clip, and a nice nod to one of the best commercials ever made. One that helped fuel Lexus' success over the last 30 years. And now that electric cars are on the horizon, we imagine that the automaker will easily be able to recreate this spot once again, 30 more years in the future.
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