Lexus shows off innovation, creativity in Amazing in Motion ad series
Lexus’ Amazing in Motion ad campaign was launched two years ago as a way for the automaker to flex its creative chops while demonstrating its talents for innovation, imagination, and design excellence. The strategy, developed by agency CHI & Partners, has resulted in four incredible spots so far: Slide, Strobe, Swarm, and Steps – each one examining a different sector of breakthrough tech.
Let’s take a look at each one:
STEPS
Steps, the first ad in the series, set the groundwork for the Amazing in Motion campaign as the means by which Lexus would demonstrate its incredible creativity without relying on special effects. In Steps, two 11-foot-tall puppets are brought to life through choreography and a unique marriage of 3D printing and sculpture. We watch as the puppet walks down crowded sidewalks, its movements imbued with a heartbreaking humanity that communicates intense loneliness and isolation. As the puppet moves through the city, he finally finds what he’s looking for – a mate. Though the puppet is only a carbon-fiber creation, the engineers and puppeteers who worked on Steps were able to showcase complex emotions and make us wonder what sort of experiences robots might have in the near future.
SWARM
Lexus teamed up with KMel Robotics to create the Swarm short, which won the Film Craft Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ad spot features KMel Robotics’ automated four-rotor flying robots (aka “Quadrotors”) barreling through a museum, snaking through the antlers of a stuffed deer and spiraling around suits of armor – all without crashing into each other or the displays. This exquisite ballet of robotic technology was done without any CGI assistance. KMel’s engineers used a complex infrared camera system to keep the Quadrotors from colliding with each other by calculating the position of each robot over 100 times per second.
STROBE
Dozens of stuntmen and acrobats hung from some of the tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur wearing specially designed LED light suits (designed by Batman Returns costume designer Vin Burnham) in Strobe. Each of the suits contained 1,680 LED lights and design cues inspired by distinctive Lexus product features, like the automaker’s signature spindle grille. A bespoke computer system created by technical director Adam Wright was used to control and choreograph the suits’ lighting, creating the illusion of a single figure vaulting across the city skyline.
SLIDE
Slide is the project that really has people talking, especially after Funny or Die’s viral hoverboard video took off last year. With Slide, Lexus shows off its very own hoverboard design, using superconductors and magnets to repel the forces of gravity and lift riders inches above the ground. According to the automakers’ website, the hoverboard “uses magnetic levitation to achieve amazing frictionless movement.” Picture a maglev train – though we doubt Lexus’ hoverboard will be able to reach speeds of, in the case of Shanghai’s Transrapid, over 300mph.
In response to the incredible innovations Lexus has pulled off with the Amazing in Motion series, Haruhiko Tanahashi (Lexus’ Chief Engineer) says, “There is no such thing as impossible. It’s just a matter of figuring out how.” We can’t wait to see what’s up next.
While you wait to see Lexus’ next feat of engineering, stop by Lexus of Highland Park to appreciate some of the automakers’ more classic achievements. We’re more than happy to take you on a test drive of any of our new or pre-owned vehicles today.
