Lexus has always been a luxury brand – and the vehicles are easily equated with style and class, and money. Despite the fact that Lexus’ is not a cheap vehicle, Lexus has never been seen as a contender in the fast, sleek and sexy sports car world. But with the new Lexus LFA, they are attempting to changes their affiliation.

Hitting 0-60 in 3.6 seconds, places it into contention with the Ferrari’s and the Lamborghini’s. Of course, it is also in the same price range. Which is a huge jump. Most Lexus vehicles range from $40,000-$100,000 whereas the new LFA supercar comes in at $375,000 (base msrp). So my question is: How will they compete?

When Volkswagen split from their ‘traditional’ $25-$45,000 cars and created the Phaeton which started at above $75,000, they made a huge error. The cars did not sell well, and despite recent face-lifts and changes, they still are not selling well. Why? Because people who are Volkswagen buyers are not traditionally those who are willing to fork out more than $50,000 for a car.

So with Lexus attempting to make the leap from style and class to high-priced sexy vehicles, I worry if they won’t face the same problems that Volkswagen has.

But, no matter the battle ahead, I am certainly impressed with their commercial. It certainly makes me think about them in a new light…that is one very sexy car.

Let’s talk bad commercials…what is the worst you have seen recently?

For me, it’s the Burger King commercials…unfortunately it isn’t just one, it’s all of them. The obnoxious “King” makes my skin crawl the minute he hits the screen.

Which commercials do you despise?

I can’t count the number of TV ads that I watch and just shake my head at – from the downright awful to the confusing and pointless. But, I find that my frustration and confusion doesn’t lie completely with the commercials content, but the concept of commercials in general.

I can only assume that commercials were originally created to promote a product or service by informing the population what it can do for you and why you absolutely must have to have it. But, over the years, this idea of commercials has been so mutated by the businesses that commercials are now not only a waste of money but a waste of brain power. Now, I am not unrealistic, I am not asking for all commercials to be done away with. What I am asking for is that companies stop creating the horrid drivel they are now and create simple commercials – promote their product, tell me why I need it, and be done. Stop destroying great music by setting it to a montage of stuff that has zero to do with the business (hey Chase…I’m talking to you). Get rid of the obnoxiously awful mascots that behave in ridiculous manners (Burger King, Jack in the Box, Geico..are you listening?). And convince me that your product is for me without awful gimmicks (hmm, this includes pretty much all of you big business!).

If companies could do the above 3 things, commercials might have a chance to be beneficial – and possibly cost a whole heck of a lot less. And guess where you could spend that extra money? Improving customer service, listening to social media channels and doing more research on ways to improve your products! See, this is a win/win situation!

Of course, this is only my opinion, but somehow I doubt I am alone.

What do you think of TV commercials? How could these companies spend their money more effectively?

Traditional searches for companies/services/etc in the big heavy yellowbook are gone. I think the last time I event used the “real” yellowbook was 1998 and yellow book knows this. So, rather than attempt to revive the book, they took themselves online and created a new ad campaign.

The ad campaign for yellowbook online is extremely well done, and I have to applaud them for creating something that not only got the point across but were able to create a series of clever ads that we all can relate to. For those who haven’t seen a new yellowbook commercial, all of their ads are similar – something happens and leaves the protagonist looking for a solution using yellowbook online. This is my favorite:

How does this ad help you? There are 3 main pieces of the ad that make it (and can make you) more effective:

1. It sets you up from the very beginning. The first time I saw this ad, I was intrigued within the first few second because they told me I should be. I knew that something was going to happen, but because I didn’t really know what a “yellowbook moment” was, the surprise wasn’t ruined, it left me wanting to find out more.
2. It is honest, direct, simple and unbelievably clever. While I doubt many of us have had our dog eat a canary at the vet, we have all had moments where we feel like that guy does. It pulls at our human instincts of embarrassment/fear/worry/shock and tells us that they can help when we need it. They are there for us in every way.
3. It doesn’t have corny music, doesn’t draw on too long and doesn’t treat us like we’re stupid. Too many commercials are aiming for “pretty” or “creative” instead of being simple and to the point.

What did you think of their commercials? What can you learn from their style?

We’ve all seen those ads. The ones that make you shake your head because you can’t believe someone spent that much money on something that ridiculously pointless. These 4 are just the most recent I’ve seen…

Ford Escape – “Our drivers have no idea how to put gas in a car without spilling it all over themselves, so we’ve removed the gas cap!”

Jack in the Box: The only thing you’ve sold me on is that Jack is an idiot.

Geico the Gecko Temp?? Um, apparently your HR department needs some serious help.

Ikea – 3 words: Serial Killer Daughters.

What commercials make you cringe?

Football season is here, and that means the Superbowl is just 4 months away. With the way that the economy is going, I was surprised to read that this years Superbowl commercial spots are already 70% sold! Last year at this time, there had been 80% sold, only a 10% difference, which is shocking a lot of the news channels.

Does this mean that the economy is climbing? Or that the companies can’t come up with any better way to spend their money?

Either way, what it got me thinking of was some of the best Superbowl commercials of all time (sometimes, I just need a laugh on a Thursday), and whom I would be excited to see for next year.

My favorite of all time? Monster.com’s ad from 1999, “when I grow up…”

Which companies am I looking forward to? Definitely Budweiser, as they are usually pretty clever. And I hope to see another great one by Monster.com

Do you have a favorite? Which companies are you looking forward to seeing next year?