Monday 8th November 2010

Lexus Video Honours Chief Test Driver

Naruse-san remembered on video

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It was with great sadness that we learned earlier this year of the death of Lexus's chief test driver, Hiromu Naruse, in a collision near the Nurburgring.

Naruse, who had a hand in almost every crucial sports car that Toyota has thus far produced and who put more miles in on the Nordschleife than any other Japanese driver, is sorely missed by all those who new him - and by ToMoCo itself.

Now, Lexus has revealed this short video tribute to the man who, more than any other, shaped Toyota's and Lexus's performance car history (have a look at the select roll-call of cars at 1m 02s in the video if you want proof).

We applaud the sentiment of the video, which seems to have come from the folks at Lexus's US arm, but we have to say that it smacks a bit too much of 'marketing'.

A 90-second viral video to honour a true performance car guru? Call us cynics, but somehow it doesn't seem quite right to us...

 

 

[Adrian W]

Yep marketing!

[Squabbler]

^ That's exactly what i'm thinking
edit: bad spelling

Edited by Squabbler on Monday 8th November 11:16

[powwerr]

yup

cheers pal, see u later.

pitiful really

[rhinochopig]

With all the "some say" statements I was waiting for the Stig to appear.

[Insight]

I like it and I'm a big marketing cynic. This guy gave almost 50 years to one company, it's the companies way of saying thank you. Yes, it's marketing, but at least it's honest and it's all about him. Shame he does't actually speak to camera at any point though.

PS: Edited to give thumbs up not grumpy face!

Edited by Insight on Monday 8th November 12:12

[Ollieb7]

Respect indeed - however i think Voice over man from the X-factor would have made a better job!;-)

[volvoforlife]

i really like it.

[Mark Wibble]

Hmm, I dunno- people have short attention spans these days, so I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt and say it's the best way for as many people to get to watch a simple but honest tribute.

I doff my cap in his direction.

[Antj]

mmmmmm, still not that sure about all this, seeing as most of the locals seem to be of the opinuion it was dangerous driving on a public road that caused it.

[Iaing01]

I think its great, yeah its marketing, but what would you rather a pretty fitting tribute by the company you work for or nothing at all.

[ljp14]

Should make a feature length movie…

[Fastra]

Hmmmmm..

Where's the shots of him when he was younger, shots showing his contribution throughout the years?
These would have fitted so much better than the car pics.
Perhaps there is none???

Much better piece here:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/06/23/seat-time-with-...

[tonym911]

It's tough to get this sort of thing right, but if a tribute is in any way capable of having a secondary marketing value, then it's inappropriate and should not be put in the public domain – a near-impossible task with video these days. This tribute fails the marketing test as it both shows and talks about the LFA, a present-day vehicle that is undoubtedly playing a part in shaping the Lexus image. Nobody can argue about the sentiment of a tribute in this case, regardless of any misgivings as to how he met his death (which if you break it down is just one incident in a whole career) but the choice of medium - and by extension the mass distribution - is questionable.

[WMP]

I know the Japanese have a slightly different view on death/mortality/fate but Lexus pinning their name & cars all over a 'tribute' is still a bit wrong.

I think it is another sign of the times, why miss a commercial opportunity...?

RIP sir

[tonym911]

The most important test of course is 'what does his family think?'. If it was my dad/brother/whatever being 'honoured' in this way I don't think I'd be best pleased. It feels like they're squeezing the last drop of commercial value out of the poor sod.

[Silver Smudger]

The Crack Fox said:

Now long before the Hiromo Naruse special edition is out, commemorating his great service to the company, available on 0% finance over 3 years with free servcing etc etc....

This is crying out for a Sniff Petrol spoof.

Be careful what you wish for

[vz-r_dave]

Silver Smudger said:

The Crack Fox said:

Now long before the Hiromo Naruse special edition is out, commemorating his great service to the company, available on 0% finance over 3 years with free servcing etc etc....

This is crying out for a Sniff Petrol spoof.

Be careful what you wish for

Why be careful, this would be a fantastic car if produced. A nice little competitor to the MX5

[Arun_D]

I can't really see a problem. Nice of them to put something together in the very least. R.I.P

[Debaser]

Have they decided who was to blame for the crash yet?

[geofflowe]

Insight said:

I like it and I'm a big marketing cynic. This guy gave almost 50 years to one company, it's the companies way of saying thank you. Yes, it's marketing, but at least it's honest and it's all about him. Shame he does't actually speak to camera at any point though.

PS: Edited to give thumbs up not grumpy face!

Edited by Insight on Monday 8th November 12:12

Agree - I like it