USA TODAY International Edition
Black Panther drives Lexus in Super Bowl commercial
Get ready to see a superhero on the Super Bowl. And this one doesn’t fly. He drives a Lexus. (Or, at least, his alter ego does.)
Think of it as synergy meets cinema: The commercial celebrates the 2018 Lexus LS 500 F Sport, a luxury performance sedan that goes on sale in February, and it stars Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, who also plays the Marvel superhero in the Black Panther movie that opens Feb. 16.
“From a timing standpoint, this was one of those unique opportunities that we didn’t want to pass up,” Cooper Ericksen, Lexus vice president of marketing, tells USA TODAY. “It was almost too good to be true.”
The ad features whiz-bang special effects and was shot using costumes and gear from the film, all set to the driving beat of Legend Has It by Run the Jewels. The action is set around Black Panther trying to recover stolen vibranium at the same time his alter ego, King T’Challa, needs to represent his country at a world leadership conference.
You don’t have to know that vibranium is a fictional metal found in Black Panther’s fictional homeland of Wakanda — and that it’s what Black Panther’s suit is made of — to get the sense of the commercial, though it helps.
Ericksen explains the ad’s subtext revolves around the dual nature of Black Panther and T’Challa — and the dual nature of the LS 500 F Sport, which pairs luxury with performance.
The Lexus LC 500 luxury performance coupe, which will be seen in the movie, also has a cameo in the ad, which was shot in downtown Los Angeles at night using a custom lighting unit.
“We are trying to appeal to a younger luxury buyer, in that 45- to 55-year-old range,” Ericksen says. “Which might not be young to some, but in the luxury world that’s actually quite young. And the Marvel audience is a surprisingly affluent audience.”
Good thing, because Ericksen says prices start about $75,000 for the LS and more than $90,000 for the LC.
The spot, called “Long Live the King,” is directed by Samuel Bayer, and its fight scene was staged by the film’s fight choreographer, Jonathan (JoJo) Eusebio. You can see a 60-second version online now. A 30-second version will run during the third quarter of the Super Bowl.
“The Super Bowl is the best opportunity for us to have product reach in a quick period,” Ericksen says, “and it works so well for us because the car is literally going on sale at the same time customers are going to see the ad on TV.”
When it comes to Super Bowl advertising, Ericksen says, it doesn’t matter how many eyeballs are watching “if it doesn’t catch somebody’s attention and if they don’t remember it. I think we’re going to have high memorability.”