Barbara Lippert's Critique: Out Of This World

Now that gasoline prices have spiked past $97 a gallon here in New York City, could there be a better time to introduce a Lexus SUV hybrid? Wait a minute—is that $97 supposed to be funny? And isn't this one of those annoying trick questions that columnists open with to avoid stating the obvious? Why, yes all around, thank you very much. Of course it's a brilliant time to introduce any hybrid. Still, there is a gray area. Alec Baldwin may have told Page Six that he's on the list for a Lexus RX 400h (and seems to feel as though he's a regular Woody Guthrie for being so ostentatiously eco), but isn't luxury/hybrid something of a contradiction in terms? This may well be a case of so much power and weight defeating any significant savings in fuel costs. Then there's the higher purchase price, which makes hybrid fuel savings a wash, at least according to calculations last January by Consumer Reports and others. (These days, most buyers pay a surcharge even to get a Prius—a car, by the way, that needs no better advertising than Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm.) To add insult to injury, while California extends incentives to hybrid owners (like relaxed rules for the car-pool lane), the RX 400h, among others, is not enough of an energy saver to qualify. But after Hurricane Katrina, with gas prices almost doubling, the math is looking better. While it once looked like a self- canceling combo, like cheesecake and Diet Coke, luxury/hybrid now seems smarter and more timely. Alec Baldwin is not alone (there are already waiting lists for the RX 400h). The great majority of Lexus-purchasing Americans want to have their cheesecake and eat it, too. It's genius. Lexus is offering the first guilt-free luxury SUV (beating to the punch BMW, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler, who just announced a joint venture to develop hybrid cars). "Alternatives," the first spot in a new campaign for the RX 400h, strikes just the right note —more whimsical than usual for Lexus, and certainly a lot less haughty than "Putting the world on notice," the theme line of two years ago. Getting unsmug works well: The spot is entertaining on every level and conveys a delightful (and unbranded) idea of faith in modern science, technology and, most of all, hope for the future. The muted, desaturated, almost black-and-white look is beautiful. It's slightly nature- worshippy (think Joshua Tree). We get an overhead shot of the vast, moonlike bleakness of the Mojave Desert. Mixed in are cuts of roadside vegetation. The images are beautifully composed and startling, like Ansel Adams photos. The music comes up —"Fine Line," the title song off Paul McCartney's pretty trippy new album. It's bouncy and memorable, but in the face of the decent reviews he received (a change for Paul as a solo artist), I found it a bit disappointingly cutesy. Still, it's a grabber in four bars and moves the spot along like a bouncing ball. (And I like the fact that the lyrics are not a literal match with the pictures.) As for all the electric- and solar-powered vehicles in the spot, Ed Begley Jr. couldn't dream of a more eccentric lineup. Imagine if aliens landed and decided to build cars based on The Jetsons and Mr. Magoo. This is what they would come up with. In fact, the cars came from various university research departments (CalTech, Stanford, etc.) and even some high-school competitions. Some date from the '70s, the time of our last oil crisis. Most of the owners insisted on driving their stealth vehicles in the spot, and you can tell they're obsessed with the good work they are doing. Some of these rides look straight out of Star Wars (the movie or the Reagan-era weapons system); others appear more like Disney teapots or cups. All are eye-catching. Seeing them is like watching the automotive-evolution poster of the future: Forget the ascent of man. This is the ascent of Herbie. Our Lexus glides gracefully into the mix, just as McCartney sings, "There's a fine line between recklessness and courage." We hear the announcer (Jim Sloyan, the voice of Lexus since its inception in 1989), in his classic semi-haughty tones, introducing "an alternative vehicle" that's "fuel-efficient but spacious" and "runs cleaner but more powerfully." The Lexus looks great, but next to the really experimental models, it also seems familiar. (I was so taken with the prototypes that I wished there were titles explaining their energy sources and when they were developed. I guess that would have slowed down the jaunty pace.) With the Lexus, the alternative-energy function serves the pre-existing SUV form; with the crazy-looking prototypes, the forms were invented to serve the function. As a result, in this context at least, the Lexus is like a Greenwich soccer mom hanging with extraterrestrials (metrosexual extraterrestrials at that). With new models flooding the market from sources as disparate as Chevrolet and Porsche, hybrids will soon become mainstream. The ultimate goal in the industry, apparently, is to market gasoline-free hydrogen-cell cars. But in the meantime, as with the final episode of Six Feet Under, this spot assures us that there will be a future with road trips, which is oddly comforting. As that guy who now promotes Fidelity and Lexus once memorably put it, "Oh blah di, oh blah da, life goes on." Especially with a P.C. SUV with a conscience.LexusAgencyTeam One, El Segundo, Calif. Executive creative directorChris GravesCreative directorsJon Pearce, James DalthorpCopywritersSimon Mainwaring, Mike FolinoArt directorsLarry Frey, Lou FloresAgency producerJennifer WillettProduction co.Supply & Demand, Santa Monica, Calif.DirectorJeffery Plansker

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Barbara Lippert's Critique: Out Of This World

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Barbara Lippert