Lexus Partners Esquire In Inspiring Short Film

Luxury carmaker Lexus has chosen a musical nostalgia, family tension storyline in a new short film—the latest in its “Life Movie” series— and early results would suggest they’ve nailed the branded content.

The seven-and-half minute short film, a collaboration with Esquire China to promote its RX Hybrid range of SUVs in China was directed by Yao Fei and explores a common thread; intergenerational conflict and the power of music.

The story arc sees a successful, Lexus-driving businessman struggling with his rock-obsessed son and his musical dream, urging him to give it up, as he himself did previously. But when the drummer in the son’s band can’t make a gig, the father steps in to fill his shoes, and the two bond as the son learns the reason why his father gave up his musical career. 

The father is played by Yu Qian, a popular Chinese crosstalk performer, who himself was in a rock group in his youth. The soundtrack featured local 1990s indie band New Pants, which saw a resurgence of popularity among younger audiences this summer when it won iQiyi’s rock music talent show “The Big Band”. The music allows Lexus to ride on the show’s success even though Buick was an official sponsor of “The Big Band”.  

The short movie ends with a black and white clip of a 1994 performance that inspired the Lexus film. In it, rock musician He Yong, in his last big concert, introduces his father, who plays a traditional Chinese stringed instrument. This scene further enhances the sense of nostalgia among Lexus’s target consumers, a relatively older, higher-income demographic. 

While the occasional unsubtle cuts to the Hybrid’s key selling features are a bit clunky, overall the production values and the inspiring storyline make this branded content stand out. And Chinese audiences have taken to it, with the film gaining an overwhelmingly positive reception and over 3m views on Weibo to date.