Comments on: Surprise Honey, I Just Added $60,000 to Our Debt

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:17:27 +0000

Of course the commercial isn’t for the average person, but do you know how many times it was played during football games at Thanksgiving? It had to be upwards of 30 times. You know who watches football at Thanksgiving – the people who aren’t living in a million dollar house and wearing $200 shoes.

Additionally, this alienates about what 99.99% (maybe a few more 9′s) of America. We are close to being able to buy a $60K car (if we wanted to, but we’ll probably invest it in better ways – even Buffet drives a clunker for his billions), and I’d go for any other car company than this one.

By: Geekoid

Geekoid — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:11:20 +0000

Since everyone in the commercial is living in a million dollar house, and wearing 200 dollar shoes, just assume the commercial is for people who can afford it. i.e. not you.
If you were asking 250K+ a year, this would be fine. Also, wouldn’t it be 60K – the cost of another car that you should talk about?

By: Suzieqs

Suzieqs — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:45:43 +0000

I hate this commercial. It’s bad enough the Giants are losing only to be interrupted by this annoying commercial with a tune that just grates on my nerves. Even if I had money for a Lexus I would say Lex-us buy another car. In this economy does anyone except the ‘one percent’ lol have money for this unless they got into 60,000 dollars in debt.? If my spouse did this, he would be living in the dam Lexus.

By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:50:11 +0000

Yep I’ve noticed that.

By: Mrs. Accountability

Mrs. Accountability — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 04:16:57 +0000

It’s 2009 and they’re still showing that commercial. Or maybe a new version. Or some car company is showing something similar to the one you mention. I told my hubby last night what a mess of a present that would be! Neither of us believe in buying brand new cars as it is. If one of us ever did that we’d probably have him or her committed. ;-)

By: Omie

Omie — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:28:38 +0000

Mercedes and even Cadillac have similar commercials.

By: Omie

Omie — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:27:15 +0000

I suppose it is for all of those yuppie suburbanites who have money to burn. It caters to rich people, the poor schmucks that work for a living cannot afford the car. The commercial makes me hate Lexus.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:46:16 +0000

I think my wife would gladly take the Lexus…she would use it to drive to the closest divorce attorney!

By: Justin

Justin — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 01:23:07 +0000

I didn’t realise the car was fully optioned. From the ads it looks like an RX to me, which start at 37K. Now, apart from that, yes, my wife would kill me too.

By: JB

JB — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 04:47:10 +0000

I don’t like the premise behind the commercial either and mere mortals could not go out and buy the car without repercussions. But the one couple I know of where someone got a car for xmas, the car purchase was planned, just not for a specific day. So when I watch that commercial I kinda thought they had talked about it and were going to buy a luxury sedan :)

By: Joseph Sangl

Joseph Sangl — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 23:51:26 +0000

Lexus knows that most Americans spend money with a short-term mindset. They might “know” that spending the money on a car that will drop in value like a rock is a bad idea, but they don’t have to pay the consequences of the decision in a massive way for years to come. They can enjoy the luxurious car immediately.

I have always laughed at these commercials when the announcer dude says “make this a December to remember …”

I can promise you it WOULD be a December to remember if I bought this stupid car without my bride’s input.

I have no problem with Lexus or owning a Lexus. I have a problem with the perceived deception between spouses.

By: Scope

Scope — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 05:00:08 +0000

Anyone who buys new is a chump anyways. Buy a 3-year old used.

By: Robert

Robert — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:33:15 +0000

my wife and I are on a strict budget and after seeing the lexus commercial together, she told me that she wants me to surprise her with a car for christmas or her birthday some year, and I’m excited about it, and we’ll be paying cash.

we hope to make 250K this year and she currently drives a $1K (yes, that’s one thousand dollars)1996 ford escort. she’ll deserve more than whatever car I surprise her with, but it’ll probably be a $20K used Honda Pilot, not a $60K Lexus.

By: jim

jim — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:43:00 +0000

Yeah, I always thought these ads were ridiculous, it’s one thing to get jewelry without consulting… but a CAR!?!?!?! But I suppose it works because they always run those ads…

By: Tommy

Tommy — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 07:42:27 +0000

Blowing 60K on a car without consulting with the Mrs. would result in me having at least one or two new ones ripped in me within 30 secs.

By: Meg

Meg — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 02:20:59 +0000

Unfortunately, most people I know would be THRILLED if their spouses came home with a surprise Lexus. Women and men alike would likely view it as an extremelly generous and meaningful gift. On top of that they would LOVE the opportunity to brag about their spouses’ generosity (and simultaneously about their financial successes) to their friends.

Of course that all assumes that the couple make upwards of $150,000 a year. But many couples do, and many more don’t know/care much about what financial prudence would dictate. So no, I don’t think it’s completely outrageous, especially as materialistic consumption-promoting commercials go.

In fact, if I had all my financial ducks in a row and got a $200,000 bonus, I might consider such a purchase for my spouse under certain circumstances (like that I knew he wanted that exact car, and he hadn’t had a new car in years). And I certainly wouldn’t be mad if my high-earning spouse bought me a car–assuming again that our financial situation was stellar.

By: GeckoGirl

GeckoGirl — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 18:00:11 +0000

I guess I’m the lone voice of dissent here. Hubby and I put down about 60% on the last car we bought and hope to be able to pay cash for the next one. Therefore, if we were already in the market for a new car and he just came home with one, I wouldn’t necessarily be upset, provided the car he got was something that we’d already agreed upon. That would just mean he saved me the trouble of finding a car (we buy pre-owned) and haggling with the dealer.

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 07:52:45 +0000

i’m not sure what the usefulness of dissecting the commercial. Really, any commercial is going to portray a fantasy reality. Commercials are designed to illicit aspirational wants. These “luxury” commercials are designed to target those in the “aspirational” class, who have just enough extra income to afford a $60k car. They key for all of us is to disassociate a marketer’s idea of what we should want versus our real wants and needs. It doesn’t matter how much you make, if you can afford a $60k car and want to spend $60k on a car for whatever reason, so be it.

By: JHS

JHS — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 07:29:43 +0000

Considering that California is a community property state and encumbrances are also “community” if community assets are relied upon to pay/secure the debt, e.g., wages or salary, then my husband would be in deep trouble if he pulled such a stunt. What a ridiculous commercial (I haven’t actually seen it.)

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By: Lazy Man

Lazy Man — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 05:06:30 +0000

Sam, I’m not so sure that Lexus is putting the commercial on TV to get Trump’s or Gates’ attention. Someone making 1M a year probably drives an even better car than a Lexus.

I’d draw the line at around 500K a year. As I previously mentioned, it doesn’t look like they are a 500K family. The commercial shows them as average couple, no hint of them being in the top 1% of earners.