Lexus puts parents who prepare celebrations for their children at the forefront of this year’s holiday campaign, December to Remember. Agency Team One has translated that perspective into two commercials that portray adults as children, connecting the satisfaction of preparing the holidays for others with the excitement they remember from their own childhood.
The campaign was unveiled on November 4, and the main sixty-second spot, Child’s Eyes, follows a young girl shopping for gifts and groceries, visiting a cafe and transporting a Christmas tree on the roof of a GX. Only as she watches children open their presents is it revealed that the protagonist is actually their mother, whom viewers have seen as her younger self throughout.
The song Young at Heart, performed by Willie Nelson, accompanies the commercial and hints at the idea behind the choice of protagonist. The GX is integrated into holiday errands, while the story stays focused on the person making sure everything is ready and her satisfaction when it is time to open presents.
The shorter spot, Snowball, conveys the same idea through fifteen seconds of a snowball fight outside a family home. A young girl plays with two other children, with a GX parked in the driveway. When they embrace, she transforms into their mother, revealing that the playfulness we have just watched belonged to her as well.
Both spots use the character’s transformation at the end to draw attention to the parents’ experience. In holiday advertising, which often relies on the anticipation and receiving of gifts, Lexus this year chooses the satisfaction of those who prepare them. Cynthia Tenhouse, vice president of marketing at Lexus, says the campaign grew out of the observation that adults, in trying to make the holidays unforgettable for children, also rediscover some of the excitement they associate with that time of year.
Alongside the two new commercials, the brand is bringing back Overnight Lexus and Over the Years for this year’s campaign. The media plan includes cable and connected television, including college football broadcasts on ESPN, Thursday Night Football on Amazon and NBA programming. Additional placements are planned on Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Max and Netflix, as well as in cinemas. The campaign supports the Lexus December Sales Event, with offers running through January 4, 2027.
