It’s fairly bereft of any substance, but Fifth Gear had a mini-interview with Melanie C (of Spice Girls fame) about her choice of vehicle:

Seems like she couldn’t stop herself from plugging her album, though listening to her own albums to learn the lyrics is so appropriate it could almost be true.

It’s starting to feel like an everyday occurrence to find something linking Lexus with golf, and today’s no exception. As part of their U.S. Open sponsorship, three commercials were made, one of which I’ve already posted about, and here’s another:

I’ll admit, at first this commercial confused me, as I searched for some connection between finding your inner golfer and selling cars. Seems it’s much more subtle than that — It’s all about the pursuit, right?

As for specifics, this commercial was directed by Rob Groenwald, with music by Nate Morgon of Elias Arts.

One commercial remains, which I’m obsessively trying to track down. My own pursuit, if you will…

Norwegian website Dinside Motor took an LS 600h L through its paces, hitting 160mph and showing off some major bodyroll:

I like to see these kind of tests, it’s so much more interesting to see the handling instead of reading about it.

Old Lexus commercials have been popping up on Youtube non-stop — First was the LS 400 double shot, and now we have the inaugural SC 400 ad:

The snapshot camera effect has to be my favorite part, it just screams of the nineties.

The most impressive aspect of this Lexus ES 350 commercial is how real the situation feels:

The different perspectives of the same accident, the unavoidable crash, the skittering truck, the click-whirr of the advanced safety system, all make for a very immersive experience. Before impact, I actually recoiled in my chair.

In 2005, Lexus created an holographic installation in a rented Times Square storefront, and even two years later, it’s an absolute marvel:

This is an amazing application of technology, spectators were able to rotate, change the hologram’s color, set it in motion. Created quite a scene, by the looks of it. I wish I had been able to see it in person.

Lexus of Santa Monica has taken the dealership experience to a entirely new stratosphere, installing the cars in a place that looks more like a villa than a showroom, with fountains, a grand piano, chandeliers, and even a cobblestone drive. Quite a departure from the antiseptic look of the usual standard. I’m not entirely sure what to make of it.

They have a commercial, take a look for yourself:

Certainly looks comfortable, but don’t the cars seem out of place? I imagine it’s something you have to experience in real life, but it seems more like a restaurant than a place to buy a car.

One thing’s for sure, the women over at Ask Patty love it.

Someone must have been digging through their old VCR tapes, because here’s two VHS quality commercials from the LS 400’s inaugural advertising campaign:

Funny story about the first commercial, taken from the book Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit:

What the ad didn’t say — and what Team One [Lexus’ Advertising Agency] members didn’t know until later — was that gold-plated sensors are standard on almost every car. However, few in the viewing audience seemed to notice and it served its purpose by reinforcing the notion that Lexus was synonymous with quality of the highest standard.

I can’t say that the SC 430 is my favorite car in Lexus’ lineup, but Top Gear took it one step further, declaring it “the worst car on sale today”. When comparing it to the Hyundai Tiburon, it was hardly even a contest:

“Dreadful”. “Horrible”. “Charmless”. I’m honestly surprised the host didn’t drive the SC 430 off a cliff at the end.

A new LS commercial debuted during last week’s U.S. Open, and it’s one of those posthumous pitchmen type of ads — Current PGA player Nick Watney picks up golf greats Bobby Jones, Sam Snead and Ben Hogan for a round of golf:

A nice sentiment, I suppose, but this type of celebrity appropriation never sits too well with me.