Chain is an arresting if irrelevant spot that shows a Lexus could hold five times its weight.
Lexus has debuted a new commercial, titled Chain, which links five vehicles on cables and suspends them from a crane.
Shot on the runway of an airport, a crane is used to lift Lexus after Lexus until five – an LS, RX, GS, ES and IS – are suspended in midair nose to end. Finally, an LFA parks directly below the chain of vehicles. The voiceover says, “The hard way is how Lexus inspires absolute confidence. The hard way is the pursuit of perfection.”
Lexus brought in a physicist and a structural engineer to participate in the shoot and witness that the vehicles were attached to each other without any supporting hardware. Presumably both knew that automotive safety depends on how a structure performs in compression, not tension.
Nonetheless, Chain is an arresting if irrelevant spot that shows a Lexus could hold five times its weight. Before filming a pull test was conducted with two semi wreckers, one parked as the other pulled to ensure the vehicle could hold at least 21,000 pounds, about five times its weight. The LS passed with flying colors, holding 29,000 pounds.
For the final filming, cables and hooks were used to attach the vehicles one at a time to the crane and then to each other. The crew suspended the same vehicles over and over for a period of three days without needing to replace them during the filming.
“The new broadcast spot allows us to focus on the foundation of our vehicles, the chassis, and show its almost unbelievable strength. In fact, we feared that it would be so unbelievable, we invited a physicist and structural engineer to witness the shoot, to prove that it did, in fact, occur without the use of special effects or computer generated-imagery,” said Dave Nordstrom, vice president of marketing for Lexus.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
