Someone has finally posted the iconic, award-winning 1989 television advertisement which introduced Lexus to the world!

"Balance" - Introducing the Lexus LS 400

The 0:30 ad was archived by the AMCI, an independent firm which verifies that claims made in ads are truthful and accurate--as Lexus' claims about its then-New LS were.

Threads on this forum have come and gone with mentions of this ad, and the LS 460 launch has referenced the famous champagne glasses pyramid.

Here it is, simple and elegant. Note that the beginning of the ad is obscured by the AMCI title frame, and the last few seconds of the ad don't show. But the head-on shot is the same, IIRC, with the Lexus emblem and name appearing as a graphic over the image.

Lexus LS 400 - Balance is here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=P6bmRay7M_o

Incidentally, the LS 460 has appeared in a Lexus US Open ad -- a brief head-on shot. There is also another 1989 LS 400 ad - featuring TRAC (http://youtube.com/watch?v=DNGWWarEUBE, among other Lexus ads on YouTube.

I'm looking forward to the ad campaign for the New LS Series. Lexus has come a long way since 1989, but what a spectacular debut that was!

Sweet thanks so much for finding that.

Cool commercial.

They also have the ES comercial with the ball baering and theres also an es300 commercial from 1997.

I think that was purely marketing... I am pretty sure many other cars can do that.

It's true that other cars subsequently were shown to be capable of similar feats; at least one car company copied the Lexus commercial.

But it's still a stunning debut ad. And won an Ellie award for advertising.

Holy Crap! YouTube has a whole bunch of Lexus commercials!

Just type in "Lexus Commercial" in the search function on YouTube.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

at least one car company copied the Lexus commercial.

may I ask which company? i am curious. :uh:

may I ask which company? i am curious. :uh:

Nissan did it with the first Altima.

Best commercial ever! I wanna try it with my dad's '92 LS w/ 215K+ miles on it. I'm sure i'd pull it off. It's still so damn smooth.

Dodge also copied this for there 94 ram ad but the champange glasses were on a dodge intrepid that was mounted on the back of the ram.

Has anyone else noticed that the commercials stop before there done. And the sound is out of sync you here the LS400 start and rev up before you see the key in the ignition. Nice music though.

Team One Advertising (sub of Saatchi & Saatchi) did a great job with this commercial back in 1989. Not many cars (if any) at that time had a powertrain that smooth. Remember, they ran the car to 100+ mph and the car shifted into all gears without a glitch. Of course a few years later after the fact, Nissan and Dodge jump on it....granted it took them that many years to R&D a powertrain that smooth. :)

BTW, there's a TYPO in that short excerpt. It's AMCI not ACMI.

Thx for catching that, it is now corrected.

And just to explain, the reason why AMCI tested the ad was in response to challenges that it be proven real and not deceptive advertising.

I think that was purely marketing... I am pretty sure many other cars can do that.

An independent marketing firm that tests ads for truthfulness did it and confirmed the ad.

One time there was a volvo ad where Bigfoot ran over a Volvo and nothing happenend to it. THey tested it and the Volvo got CRUSHED.

Volvo then admitted the vehicle they used was reinforced.

yes i still remember the balance commercial when it first came out. i was so amazed back then (even more later when i knew it was not fake). same with the ES and the ball bearing, another amazing commercial

These were excellent commercials done by Lexus these heps to make Lexus a household name and many company used Lexus like to describe a smooth or quiet car from then on. Does anyone remeber the commercial with the LS400 on the train tracks or the commercial where it shows the intrior of the LS400 and then starts taking way all the sounds and then music starts playing.

These were excellent commercials done by Lexus these heps to make Lexus a household name and many company used Lexus like to describe a smooth or quiet car from then on. Does anyone remeber the commercial with the LS400 on the train tracks or the commercial where it shows the intrior of the LS400 and then starts taking way all the sounds and then music starts playing.

Yep that was one of many groundbreaking Lexus benchmarked commercials. That commercial demonstrated the LS400's smooth riding suspension, and it could do it without any intrusion to the passenger cabin.

I wish someone could find these two commercials. I dont think there were anymore commercials for the original LS400.