• by November 12, 2001

In the boldest move yet by any advertiser, luxury automaker Lexus has partnered with TiVo to create the Lexus ES 300 "New World of Luxury," a first-ever TiVo sweepstakes designed to get viewers to actively look for commercials.

TiVo is the leader in digital video recording services that has long been feared by traditional television advertisers because it allows viewers to skip commercials with the touch of a button.

In the new Lexus campaigns, however, viewers must watch at least one of four ES 300 commercials to be eligible to win Lexus' new ES 300 sedan.

"While other advertisers may be running scared and hoping interactive TV will go away, Lexus is meeting the challenge head on," said Lexus VP of marketing Mike Wells.

"Advertisers have been concerned that viewers would use the technology to skip commercials, but Lexus has chosen to work with TiVo in order to be in the forefront of creating content and determining the potential opportunities of a new, and conceivably explosive, technology," Wells added.

Starting today and continuing until Dec. 14, 2001, after finding one of the four Lexus ads, a TiVo subscriber can use the TiVo TrickPlay features -- slow motion, rewind, pause and fast-forward -- to carefully view the commercial and determine the answer to the question posed to them in a Showcase within the TiVo Service.

The Showcase screen is where networks and advertisers can place video content to promote new products, programs or promotions for TiVo subscribers. Participants can then log on to Lexus.com and submit the answer to be eligible to win the car.

While there are four commercials in the series, participants only need to watch and interact with one of the four to enter the contest.