Another Ad You Won’t See

Did the devil make Lexus deep-six a TV commercial for its new sport-utility vehicle?

The lavish ad, said to cost more than $500,000, opens with a bitterly cold devil in an icy hell, gazing at Earth through a telescope. The shivering Satan spies a Lexus RX 300 on a sunlit rural roadway.

“When will they make an SUV that doesn’t ride like a truck?” an announcer asks slyly. “When? You know when.”

Industry buzz has it that Lexus ditched the dealer spot because it was too edgy. But a representative of Lexus, the luxury division of Toyota Motor Sales USA, said that wasn’t the case. Lexus’ advertising agency, Team One of El Segundo, had prepared a spot with Barbara Eden as Jeannie that Lexus executives liked better, he said.

When will the icy blue devil make his TV debut? You know when.