Today, Lexus joins Kanye West on the interactive music video bandwagon. To promote the 2014 Lexus IS sport sedan, ATTIK and Blueyed Pictures created “Amazing Mix,” a surprisingly cool interactive adscape with Cirque du Soleil characters, red birds, and kaleidoscopic effects. Site visitors can type any key (or combination thereof — try “LEXUS” for a special show) to make a mix of these effects, then submit the result for a chance to win tickets to the 2014 Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival, hotel stay at the event and $2,000, or a $500 cash prize.
Like with their Instagram film campaign, this is a step in the right direction for the automaker, though they didn’t get every aspect right. The music that backs Amazing Mix is a weird, blank James Bond knockoff, while the site that surrounds the scene is remarkably 2006. If Lexus wanted an immersive, individualized experience, they should have placed the mix on its own, minimalist page. Also, who are they targeting here? Middle-aged foodies who find Internet oddities amusing? That seems the only logical conclusion when the related prize is tix to the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival. If they’re going for young car owners (which they should be, with the tech and art angle), then that destination isn’t exactly enticing. Make the message more cohesive, and get us to XOXO, or Electric Zoo.