Team One, Publicis Group’s agency for premium brands, created this commercial for the 2023 Lexus RX which plays on the universal appeal of The Wizard of Oz. The spot features a family resembling the movie characters in the new Lexus RX and asks what if Dorothy had ignored the advice to “follow the yellow brick road” and took the road less traveled instead? Like the all-new 2023 RX, “Unfollow” reimagines what is possible with a modern interpretation of one of the most celebrated films of all time.
Hanna Maria Heidrich via production house RESET directed “Unfollow.” She is an alum of SHOOT’s 2012 New Directors Showcase.
Credits
Client Lexus Agency Team One Julie Michael, CEO; Chris Graves, chief creative officer; Jason Stinsmuehlen, executive creative director; Britt Wilen, creative director/copywriter; Philipp Dietz, creative director/art director; Neil Cleary, sr. music supervisor; Julie Bedard, sr. project manager; Mark Savage, sr. manager, product insights; Sam Walsh, director, content production; Leah Bohl, associate director, content production; Jenny Valladares, sr. producer; Ann Truong, sr. content producer. Production RESET Hanna Maria Heidrich, director; Dave Morrison, managing director; John Moran, head of production; Jen Beitler, Michael Garza, exec producers; Matt Wersinger, producer; Roman Vasyanov, DP; Meghan McClure, production designer. Editorial Cabin Rami D’Aguiar, editor; Katie Pehowski, assistant editor; Adam Becht, exec producer; Carr Schilling, managing director; Dale Nicholls, sr. producer. VFX JAMM Visual Effects Benoit Mannequin, VFX supervisor/lead compositor; Tim Robbins, Patrick Munoz, Diego Vazquez, Max Harris, Michael Parkinson; Sam Shiflett, Flame artists; Brandon Kachel, matte painter; Anna Dood, producer; Anne-Marie DePauw, production coordinator; Asher Edwards, exec producer. VFX Tilt-Shift, LA Felix Urquiza, creative director; Shelby Wong, head of production; Michael Johnson, CG supervisor; Joel Binder, VFX producer. Color JAMM Visual Effects Adam Scott, colorist; Carver Moore, color assist; Jon Lzar, color producer. Music Squeak E. Clean Studios Michael Gross, executive creative producer; Rob Barbato, executive creative director; Julie B. Nichols, creative director; Max Taylor, sr. producer; Zac Colwell, composer. Music “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” by Harold Arlen & E.Y. Harburg (courtesy Sony ATV Music Publishing/Disney Music Group,) performed by Squeak E Clean Music. Audio Post Margarita Mix Santa Monica Whitney Morris, exec producer; Brian Frank, operations manager; Bruce Bueckert, mixer; Mike Murzyn, Sean Melia, Zach Olson, assistants.
Tonal, the strength training system combining revolutionary digital weight technology with personalized, AI-powered coaching, has introduced its new brand platform, “Power Progress,” and advertising campaign developed in partnership with Quality Experience (QX), the creative independent agency founded by Ari Weiss.
Directed by Aube Perrie of Pulse Films (UKMVA Director of the Year 2023 & 2024, UKMVA Best New Director 2021 and Webby’s Best Music Video 2022) with visual effects from The Mill NY, this brand film contrasts how the heavy chains of the past still shape how we work out today, with Tonal representing the future of fitness.
In addition to the brand film, the campaign includes cutdowns ranging from 90 seconds to 15 seconds, with even the shortest spot clearly connecting the old and the new. French director Perrie’s body of work includes music videos for Harry Styles, Megan Thee Stallion, and RM’s “LOST!”
“Sports marketing has had a long history of breakthrough advertising,” said QX creative chairman Weiss. “We wanted to launch with an idea as disruptive as the product itself. Not an easy bar to live up to. Like any great idea the insight is dead simple but the execution is unexpected and riveting. Great sports marketing doesn’t happen without great sports marketers and the team at Tonal shared our ambition to make the marketing as disruptive as the product.”
