Grade: 8/10

Vegas… a place to let down your guard, be wild, crazy and dance with a giant sock puppet? Kia’s Superbowl ad follows iconic kids toys around as they make snow angels, jet ski and go to Vegas to ride a mechanical bull, flirt in a jacuzzi and dance their socks off (zing!). Not the traditional tea time activities you’d imagine with a sock puppet or cuddly teddy bear. This commercial works because it continues the Superbowl narrative and captures the Superbowl male / female ratio perfectly.

Effective Superbowl ads have a particular narrative that incorporates many element of the game, such as camaraderie, contrast, escape and excitement. Think of Budweiser’s iconic Superbowl ads. How does Kia’s Suerpbowl ad embody all of these characteristics:

• Camaraderie
  • Sports teams thrive on camaraderie, sportsmanship and team spirit. And the Kia commercial dials into it with the Gumby-looking character winning in bowling and the sock puppet getting a tattoo — real bonding activities.
• Contrast
  • This year, New Orleans Saints V. Indianapolis Colts compete for the Superbowl trophy. It’s about contrast; us vs them; good vs. evil. Accordingly, the Kia commercial juxtaposes the fun, cuddly, iconic sock puppet with getting tattoos and riding mechanical bulls or cozy, snuggly bears splashing in a jacuzzi with half-naked girls.
• Escape
  • For many people, Friday and Saturday nights are reserved for hanging out with friends at a bar. And Sunday and Monday are for football. These are times to escape the monotony of life with some good ol’ fashion football. The same is true for the sock puppet, diseased Gumby, robot and teddy bear. They escape to Vegas for some down and dirty dancing and bull ridin’.
• Excitement
  • What are sports without the unexpected moments. What would Nascar be without crashes or where would football be without hail-marys? You never know what’s next. That’s why it’s funny to see a sock puppet riding a bull or the robot… doing the robot. You don’t know what’s going to happen next, including the ending.

Yes, there is the excitement, escape and camaraderie of football, but how does this commercial work so well for the Superbowl audience? If you could put this commercial into an audience ratio (i.e. X percent is for men, X percent is for women), what would you say? We’d guestimate around 60-70 percent is for men (think jacuzzi with half naked girl), about 30-40 percent is for women (think the ending). Completely on point with Superbowl demographics. Around 64 percent of Superbowl fans are male and 26 percent of women.

Was this commercial worth nearly $100,000 a second? We have to give it to Kia and say yes. The auto-maker spoke to the Superbowl demographics perfectly by creating targeting the right percentage of males and females while extending the football narrative.

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