TORRANCE, Calif. -

Exactly how strong is the chassis of a Lexus LS? To answer the question, brand officials created an elaborate scenario to be the root of a new advertising campaign that debuted this week.

Lexus set the scene for what viewers will be seeing in this spot.

“A lone crane slowly lifts the front end of a Lexus LS,” officials began. “Then a second vehicle is attached using cables and stretch bars, then another and another and finally, a fifth Lexus vehicle is suspended in midair from the crane, using no support other than the strength of the LS.

“The gravity-defying vehicles aren’t a figment of your imagination or a camera trick,” the brand insisted.

Instead of using special effects to tell the story, Lexus explained the new broadcast TV spot titled “Chain,” is meant to be a real-life demonstration of the strength of the chassis on Lexus vehicles, with the LS taking the lead.

Shot on the runway of an airport, the brand explained a lone crane is used to lift vehicle after vehicle until five Lexus vehicles — an LS, RX, GS, ES and IS — are suspended in midair nose to end.

Finally, Lexus said an LFA Supercar comes into the shot and parks directly below the chain of vehicles. Then a voiceover states, “The hard way is how Lexus inspires absolute confidence. The hard way is the pursuit of perfection.”

Brand officials believe, “that is the kind of confidence that enables the automaker to park the $375,000 LFA below a chain of vehicles weighing a total 21,000 pounds.”

Lexus mentioned that it brought in a physicist and a structural engineer to participate in the shoot and witness that the vehicles were attached to each other without any supporting hardware.

Brand officials conceded the crew needed to make sure the theory that a Lexus could hold five times its weight could be made a reality. They conducted a pull test with two semi-wreckers, one acting as dead man, the other as a pull to ensure the vehicle could hold at least 21,000 pounds, or five times its weight.

“The LS passed with flying colors, holding 29,000 pounds — 8,000 pounds more than expected,” Lexus declared.

For the final portion of the feat, brand officials indicated stretch bars, cables and hooks were utilized to attach the vehicles one at a time to the crane and then to each other. Not only did the experiment work one time, they insisted the crew suspended the same vehicles over and over for a period of three days without needing to replace them.

In addition to the broadcast TV spot, Lexus explained that it developed an integrated marketing campaign to continue sharing its engineering story.

The campaign is set to debut online with a series of 14 unique videos demonstrating how and why Lexus engineers take the “hard way.” These demonstrations include taking a blowtorch to the leather interior to see how much heat it can withstand and testing the vehicles in hurricane-force winds and rain.

Behind-the-scenes footage for “Chain” was also produced to show consumers how the vehicles were suspended in midair. All stories can be viewed at www.lexus.com/thehardway.

Lexus reiterated the multifaceted brand campaign includes a robust online, print, mobile and outdoor execution and can also be viewed at YouTube.com/lexusvehicles.

The TV spot is scheduled to air on network, cable prime and cable sports. It is also set to be shown during the NFL playoffs, college basketball and on full-episode players.

“It isn’t enough to just say that we pursue perfection; we want to demonstrate the great lengths we go to in our pursuit,” emphasized Dave Nordstrom, vice president of marketing for Lexus.

“The new broadcast spot allows us to focus on the foundation of our vehicles, the chassis, and show its almost unbelievable strength,” Nordstrom continued. “In fact, we feared that it would be so unbelievable, we invited a physicist and structural engineer to witness the shoot, to prove that it did, in fact, occur without the use of special effects or computer-generated imagery.”