KIA Soul car commercials generally feature a green car color and hamsters which drive the cars. In searching for the reasoning behind those two elements of the Korean car company's advertising campaign [dead link - sorry], the following trivia were found:
The first "hamster" commercial for KIA's "Soul" automobile back in 2009 was called "A New Way to Roll." The campaign was designed to target Gen Y, or "Millenials" (the youngest demographic of drivers at the time).
(It) featured a rare concept for an advertisement -- constantly changing music tracks... this was the first time an advertisement had used a rotation of song tracks for the same spot, with a different song each night the ad appeared.An August 23, 2013 article from Ad Week describes KIA's hamster campaign as:
As for the hamsters, they were chosen as a "metaphor for sameness," Angelo [of the advertising agency] explains. "They go around and around in a treadmill without any direction or reason for why they are doing it." The ad's Kia-driving hamsters portray an alternative to the tedium as they drive past envious fellow critters stuck in unmoving wheels.
[...]
In June [of 2010], Kia Motors America's retail sales surged 45% over the same period last year. While Ford (F, Fortune 500), General Motors, and Toyota (TM) also posted smaller year-over-year increases in June, their sales fell from May by 11%, 13% and 14%, respectively. Kia's rose 1.5% month-to-month.
A campaign that by all objective measures you should hate, but which you can't help but love.The article goes on to discuss the premise for the award-winning "Totally Transformed" hamster commercial, providing pictures taken during its making plus the entertaining 90-second web version of the commercial.
The KIA Soul car commercials featuring hamsters are reportedly very effective. KIA Souls do come in other colors, but the reason for featuring the arguably unattractive green-colored car is still a question.
Posted by Note Taker
1 comment:
Interesting. For death generations, the notion can be cynical or poking fun or just going along. I wonder if S.K. is also depopulating as per progressive efforts as most of the industrial West? Makes perfect sense if so. My generation knew we were smaller. Most of our parents had many more siblings, we had few. The generations since might not have the same measures, or it might not be as easily seen, but they realize they are the end of something that was once great. Parents, for the most part, have gone Galt on the family.
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