Thursday, July 22, 2010

What is the advertising world coming to?

So I am very bothered by the Kia Soul commerecial with the "street" hampsters driving the Kia Soul. Very odd. If you haven't seen it, let me paint you a picture...

The song is "The Choice is Yours" by Black Sheep (the "you can get with this; you can get with that" song.) These hampsters are rolling in their Kia Souls, wearing hoodies and other clothing young kids and college students wear today. Now, I realize I am not in Kia's demographic for this car, but I'm not sure I get it. It leads to many questions, and I would like answers...

1. Are hampsters the new "in" thing, like the puppies Hollywood socialites carry in their purses?
2. Is the car only big enough for hampsters? (stole that one from my husband)
3. Why are they human-sized?
3. Why Black Sheep?  (am guessing the significance of the song is that you can choose from all sorts of "box-type" cars out there -- the Nissan Cube and the Scion -- but the Soul is the best choice (hence, the line is the song, "this is where it's at.)

Seriously, I wish I could have been in the board room where the agency sold this concept to the marketing VP. Did the conversation go something like this???

Agency: "Okay, imagine it. There are human-sized hampsters rolling uu, dressed like your typical colllege student."
Client: "Why hampsters?"
Agency: "our research shows hampsters test very favorably among 18-25 year old males, your core target audience."
Client: : "SOLD"

I'm not really sure I get it, but I think the agency has succeeded at doing their job. After all, I remembereed the commercial, can recall the type of car and I am blogging about it. That's really what marketing is all about

1 comment:

  1. I don't get it either, but the song is always stuck in my head! Guess it works...

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