''Balance'' was a 1989 television advertisement for the Lexus LS 400, which also introduced the luxury car make

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

to American television audiences.Dawson, Chester (2004). "Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit", pp. 119-120. John Wiley & Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd., Singapore. It was created by

Team One Team One is a comic book team from DC Comics/Wildstorm. It was published as two separate but intertwined two-issue mini-series, each focusing on different members of the same team and showing events from their different perspectives. Team One: ...

, a unit of

Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi & Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency gr ...

. The ad was designed to promote the

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

attributes of the flagship Lexus sedan. The advertisement received several awards and was emulated by later versions.

Synopsis

The advertisement showed the

LS 400 on rollers, with a set of

champagne glass A champagne glass is stemware designed for champagne and other sparkling wines. The two most common forms are the flute and coupe, both stemmed; holding the glass by the stem prevents warming the drink. Champagne can also be drunk from a normal ...

es stacked on its hood. The LS400 engine and drivetrain were required to quickly accelerate from stop and shift through all the gears to reach the equivalent top speed of over per hour. Despite the quick shifts and the fast speed, the LS 400 engine produces no vibrations to upset the champagne glass pyramid, and not one drop of liquid is spilled. The narration reads, "After years of intense work,

is ready to celebrate...because even at the equivalent of 145 miles per hour (230 km/h), the Lexus LS 400 is designed to stir the soul...and not much else."

Reception

The Team One advertising campaign for the

launch, including the ''Balance'' ad, received a number of advertising awards. Industry publication ''

Adweek ''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...

'' named the ''Balance'' ad one of its Best Spots of 1990, as listed in a retrospective. The Belding Awards, presented by the Advertising Club of Los Angeles, recognized Team One for their early Lexus campaign. The ''Balance'' ad was also challenged by

consumer advocate Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

David Horowitz David Joel Horowitz (born January 10, 1939) is an American conservative writer. He is a founder and president of the right-wing David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC); editor of the Center's website ''FrontPage Magazine''; and director of Disco ...

, on his ''

Fight Back! With David Horowitz ''Fight Back! with David Horowitz'' was a weekly consumer advocate show that ran from 1976–1992. The show, hosted by David Horowitz David Joel Horowitz (born January 10, 1939) is an American conservative writer. He is a founder and pr ...

'' television program, who suggested that Lexus had staged the advertisement in some way unseen to the audience. In response, Lexus produced a third-party verification videotape, and performed a live demonstration for the studio audience of the same feat, showing that indeed the LS 400 could perform as promised. The stacking of champagne glasses was also used for the formal introduction of the LS 400 at

Pebble Beach Pebble Beach is an unincorporated community on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California. The small coastal residential community of mostly single-family homes is also notable as a resort destination, and the home of the golf course ...

. In factory, Lexus models use a similar wine glass test. In 2011, a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

video went viral of a Lexus owner failing to recreate the feat on his LS460, and thus claiming that the advertisement was deceptive. Lexus uploaded a rebuttal on their official YouTube channel demonstrating that not only could the feat be recreated on a brand new LS460, but also recreated the feat with a 1990 LS400, and claimed that the viral video's attempt failed because the hood of the sedan was not level - the vehicle's front end hadn't been adequately raised to compensate for the downward slope of the hood.

Later versions

Several car manufacturers referenced the ''Balance'' ad in subsequent commercials. In separate instances,

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

and BMW mentioned the champagne glasses test in their ads.Robert Goldman, Stephen Papson. ''Sign Wars: The Cluttered Landscape of Advertising''. Guilford Press, 1996 , p. 34 The

ads, designed for the debut of the mass market Nissan Altima in 1993, duplicated the Lexus displays of champagne glasses and ball bearings, and specifically referenced the Lexus advertisements. The BMW ads mocked the champagne glasses test as an unnecessary indicator of performance. In the late 1990s,

added advertisements that focused on fun and entertainment, in addition to engineering precision. The earlier ads were seen as a highly

rational Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reasons. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an abi ...

appeal. In 2006, Lexus referenced ''Balance'' with a new ad for the fourth-generation

Lexus LS 460 The Lexus LS (XF40) is the fourth generation of the Lexus LS line of full-size Luxury vehicle, luxury Sedan (automobile), sedans. Lexus debuted the model line at the 2006 North American International Auto Show, with variants including the standa ...

. Titled ''Pyramid'', the ad depicted a driver parking a car between two stacks of champagne glasses using the

Advanced Parking Guidance System Intelligent Parking Assist System (IPAS), also known as Advanced Parking Guidance System (APGS) for Toyota models in the United States, is the first production automatic parking system developed by Toyota Motor Corporation in 1999 initially for th ...

, a new

automatic parking feature. In 2020, Lexus referenced ''Balance'' with a new ad for the fifth-generation Lexus LS 500 h by Akio Toyoda. Titled “Champagne Tower”, the ad depicted a driver parking a car between two stacks of champagne glasses on the bonnet of a brand new LS-500. With the car sitting on a rolling road on a slight incline (to compensate for the slope of the bonnet), Toyoda then fired up the car and drove it to the same speed as in the original commercial, before climbing out and celebrating with a sip.{{cite news, url=https://www.carspiritpk.com/2020/03/lexus-recreates-the-timeless-champagne-glass-commercial-for-the-new-ls-500/, title=Lexus Recreates the Timeless 'Champagne Glass' Commercial for the New LS-500, date=March 10, 2020, accessdate=2020-03-10

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

also advertised in Korea to promote Marcia, but instead of using cards. Also, Hyundai using wine glass to promote MOBED, their robot technology in December 2021.

Credits

* Client: Lexus, Rich Anderman * Agency: Team One, El Segundo, California * Creative Director: Tom Cordner * Artistic Director: Kathryn Windley * Copy Writer: Steve Silver * Agency Producer: Francesca Cohn * Production Company. John + Gorman Films * Director: Gary Johns * Editor: Steve Wystrach, Wystrach Inc. * Music: Piece of Cake * Narrator:

James Sloyan James Joseph Sloyan (born February 24, 1940 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American actor. Early years Sloyan left the United States at an early age to live abroad in Rome, Capri, Milan, Switzerland, and Ireland. His career in show busines ...

References

External links

Profile and credits on Adweek

Balance (Lexus) on YouTube
Lexus Advertising campaigns 1989 works American television commercials 1980s television commercials