Lexus IS Commercial Sells the Car's Driving Attributes the Wrong Way

You don't tell your kids the next day is going to be worse even if you might think that, and that's because you want them to enjoy their existence. Most of us have a pretty idealized image of tomorrow as well, which is why we keep postponing things we need to do, thinking we'll feel more like it then.

The future of the car industry is also at a crosspoint. People who are paid to imagine what it will be like over the next decades paint various pictures, but almost all of them have one thing in common: driving our personal vehicles will become optional, with the built-in AI ready to take over at any time and spare us the hassle.

That's a thought that scares a lot of us. Well, it depends. If we think about it while we're trodling along in highway traffic with a few hundred miles of our trip still ahead of us, then it's not so bad. If it pops in our heads while we're blasting down a mountain road in our favorite sports car, then thoughts of tall buildings, lots of pills and sharp objects might flash before our eyes.

Lexus thinks it's a good idea to play with this scenario, so it used it to promote its Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class rival, the IS sedan. Under the tagline "enjoy the thrill of driving while you still can," the Japanese company imagines the monolog any one of us would have in a driverless future.

The real irony here is that Lexus itself is working on self-driving technology, so it's a bit like a tobacco company telling you to enjoy your lungs while you still can. Well, it looks like they missed the irony and went along with the clip anyway.

Just watch the eyes of the main character toward the end. What do you think goes through his mind? We'd say it's tall buildings, large quantities of pills, and sharp objects, not necessarily in this order.