Lexus LC "Man and machine" (2017) 1:00 (USA)

This Super Bowl spot from Lexus tells us "Machines don't have emotions. But the rare few can inspire them." Kind of like this spot looks inspired by Apple's, Stroll which also includes some impossible dances from Lil Buck. In this case though, Lil Buck doesn't do impossible dances on the street but instead does impossible dances around a car, to Sia's "Move your body."
Actually, now that I think about it, we've seen people dancing around cars before, too. Like this self-congratulatory Toyota Corolla spot. At least Lexus keeps its focus squarely on the new and now. Minnie Driver is the celebrity voice over who debuts the new tagline for Lexus: Experience Amazing.
The question one must ask is, how amazing is this spot? If Apple and Lexus both had a spot with Lil Buck, there's a reason. And no it isn't because someone from Media Arts Lab went to work at Team one or vice versa. No, the reason is advertising has largely become stale. And the reason for that staleness is because there is a complete lack of diversity within the industry. And I do not only mean cultural diversity. Everywhere I've ever worked (eight agencies now) has looked like a Benetton ad when it came to nationality and race. But diversity in looks doesn't necessarily equal diversity of thinking especially if you hire people who think exactly the same way. Dabitch summed it up last month in her piece called Dare to be different when you hire people in advertising. So did Jason Fox.
If you want to see something different, hire different people. Especially if you're going to ask them to work on the Super Bowl.

Client: Lexus
Agency: Team One
Chief Creative Officer: Chris Graves
Executive Creative Director: Tim Wettstein
Creative Director: Kathryn Nyquist
Associate Creative Director: Ryan DiDonato
Account Director: Amy Oars
Management Supervisor: Jay Thongnop
Account Executive: Kellen Laker
Senior Producer: Leah Bohl
Director of Project Management: Sylvia Gutierrez
Program Manager: Jamie Lau
Business Affairs: Janet Anderson
Production: Serial Pictures
Director: Jonas Åkerlund
Post Production: Chimney Pot
Stylist: B Åkerlund
Talent: Lil’ Buck
Song: Sia “Move Your Body”

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Dabitch's picture

The irony when he does some of the very same moves as in the Apple spot. We get it, Lil Buck will be the ad-fad that David Bernal who danced in the VW ad and many more once was. Yes, they're impressive dancers but I can't help but get Levis Crazy legs flashbacks when I see that apple spot. The "dance around the product" idea is that dated. It's like tying a balloon to a car.