Well, the ladies are going to go wild for the fit driver, who resembles Thor’s Chris Hemsworth, of the all-new, all-electric Kia EV6. And if he doesn’t get them cheering, then his new sidekick, Robodog, with his big automated Pixar-like eyes, will. Debuting ahead of the big game, Kia returns to the Super Bowl with a :60-second spot featuring the brand’s first dedicated battery electric vehicle.
Created by our friends at David&Goliath, Kia’s 13th Super Bowl spot, entitled “Robo Dog,” opens on an electronics store where a lonely robotic puppy stares out the window as a “real” dog is lovingly petted by a passerby out for a walk. Robo Dog then notices a young man unplug his Kia EV6 from a charging station and drive away, leaving Robo Dog even more dejected.
“When I think about what it means to live a fully charged life, it’s about not only doing your part to protect the environment by owning an electric vehicle, it also means to go all-in with the journey,” said David Angelo, founder and creative chairman, David&Goliath, told Reel 360. “Robo Dog is the personification of that charge within us all, one that inspires us to dream big and never settle. It’s the truth behind this ad for Super Bowl and the truth of Kia’s brand.”
As Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler begins to play, the door to the store opens and Robo Dog seizes the opportunity to give chase to the man in the EV6. Robo Dog is confronted with a series of obstacles that sap his energy and put even more time and distance between him and the object of his affection.
Anticipating that he can cut the EV6 off Robo Dog rides an elevator to the roof of a building and watches the car approach on the street below. Taking a leap of faith and on his last moments of charge, Robo Dog hurls toward the open sunroof of the EV6.
Robo Dog’s eyes slowly open and he sees the young man kneeling over him. He realizes he’s been plugged into the EV6, using the model’s innovative onboard charger, fully recharging his battery, and illustrating not only the innovation of the EV6, but also the depth of the human-animal bond.
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“The EV6 marks the beginning of Kia as a sustainable mobility solutions provider and is the next step in our shift to electrification,” said Russell Wager, vice president, marketing, Kia America. “To introduce over 100 million viewers to the Kia EV6, we wanted to juxtapose the future with the emotions we all know and understand today – the love that can be shared between a human and an animal.”
Kia’s Super Bowl spot is part of an integrated marketing campaign that includes a partnership between the automaker and the Petfinder Foundation designed to help shelter animals find their forever homes. The initiative is the latest under the brand’s celebrated Accelerate The Good Program which has also contributed to help students in need achieve their goals of higher education and the fight against youth homelessness.
“At Kia, we continue to give back to the communities in which we work and live,” continued Wager. “We looked at issues that needed attention and found that during the pandemic, many animals were adopted only to sadly be returned later, so we wanted to help.”
“Robo Dogmented Reality”
While Kia’s Robo Dog found its forever home, there are countless real shelter dogs who are not as lucky. Especially in the wake of the pandemic where many dogs were adopted, only to be returned to shelters.
On Wednesday, February 9, in partnership with the Petfinder Foundation, Kia will launch its “Robo Dogmented Reality” mobile web experience which allows animal lovers to simply scan a QR Code to bring Kia’s Robo Dog into their own home through any mobile device. This innovative experience virtualizes pet adoption instantly and entices users to consider adopting an animal in need in their local communities.
“We are proud to partner with Kia America for their Super Bowl campaign,” said Toni Morgan, executive director, Petfinder Foundation. “Countless animals need loving and forever homes and we hope to place many of them over the coming weeks. The human-animal bond is vitally important and can bring years of happiness, comfort and companionship to both the animal and owner.”
TIKTOK’S ROBO DOG “TURN AROUND” DANCE
On Friday, February 11, Kia will launch its first-ever TikTok integration, which will provide users a chance to dance with the cutest robotic dog ever, Robo Dog, to Bonnie Tyler’s Total Eclipse of the Heart. Each time users hear “turn around”, Robo Dog turns, and users can turn with him. Kia partnered with five TikTok creators to encourage pet adoption, while spreading fun and love. TikTok creators participating are, @dougthepug, @besperon, @hi_im_chewie, @melissabecraft and @laurengottlieb.
The campaign will include both :15- and :30-second versions of “Robo Dog” as well as print, out-of-home and social media components.
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Behind the Scenes
David&Goliath shared some tidbits with Reel 360 about bringing the incredibly cute spot to life.
Bringing Robo Dog to life was no easy task. Eight animators worked full time for six weeks to bring Robo Dog to life – which equates to approximately 1,920 hours for just the Robo Dog animation elements of the ad. The spot took more than six months to develop from start to finish.
Robo Dog is an amalgamation of many dog breeds, and even though it’s an Augmented Reality (AI) version, we wanted Robo Dog to have real dog-like qualities that can connect with people on an emotional level – just like the EV6, an electric car that connects with people on an emotional level.
The production team studied video footage of dogs at play and enlisted the aid of a 14-week-old Labrador Retriever puppy (owned by one of the crew members) to ensure that Robo Dog’s movements were as real as possible.
The spot was filmed in December 2021 in downtown Los Angeles. The D&G team had to remove Christmas decorations in post-production and the Bonaventure Hotel, a downtown LA landmark that has appeared in numerous feature films, was one of the locations used during the shoot.
The Los Angeles Rams welcome the Cincinnati Bengals to SoFi Stadium for Super Bowl LVI on Sunday, February 13. The game will air on NBC and stream on Peacock.
CREDITS
AGENCY: David&Goliath
- David Angelo Founder & Creative Chairman
- Yumi Prentice President
- Laura Forman Chief Strategy Officer
- Ben Purcell Chief Creative Officer
- Frauke Tiemann Executive Creative Director/Art Director
- Mark Koelfgen Executive Creative Director/Copywriter
- Mark Monteiro Executive Creative Director
- Courtney Pulver Group Creative Director/Copywriter
- Robert Casillas Group Creative Director/Art Director
- Bennett Austin Creative Director/Art Director
- Nick Micale Creative Director/Copywriter
- Paul Albanese Managing Director, Broadcast Production
- Peter Bassett Managing Director, Integrated Production & Technology Services
- Christopher Coleman Executive Producer
- Juliet Diamond Executive Producer
- Lisa Tanner Managing Director
- Allison Draskovich Group Account Director
- Shay Davis Senior Business Affairs Manager
- Sheila Barrand Business Affairs Manager
- Allan de Leon Digital Executive Producer
- Allison Minton Digital Producer
- Abigail Grinberg Associate Digital Producer
- Meagan Steinkamp Senior Digital Designer
- Evon Forbes Digital Designer
- Jay Mattingly Account Director
- Kylie Harmon Management Supervisor
- Aurelia Fulginiti Account Supervisor
- Jen James Account Executive
- Jillian Littleton Account Executive
- Maddie Webster Assistant Account Executive
- Mark McNaul Product Information Manager
- Bruno Cunha Group Strategy Director
- Natalie Gomez Associate Communications Planning Director
- Jasmine Spraglin Senior Creatist
- Beka Tesfaye Strategist
- Genie Lara Associate Director of Project Management
- Mike Antonellis Senior Project Manager
- Cara Nieto Executive Art Producer
- Jenny Wu Executive Print Producer
- Elisa Atwood Senior Print Producer
- Lisa Stevens Senior Print Producer
PRODUCTION: Biscuit Filmworks
- Director: Noam Murro
- Partner / Managing Director: Shawn Lacy
- Executive Producer: Andrew Travelstead
- Producer: Jason Groves
- Head of Production: Sean Moody
- Director of Photography: Eric Schmidt
- Production Designer: Brock Houghton
VFX: Parliament
EDIT: Spinach
- Managing Director:
,Adam Bright - Executive Producer:
,Jonathan Carpio - Producer:
,Nicole Haws - Editor (Robo Dog):
,Damion Clayton (Courtesy of RPS) - Assistant Editor (Robo Dog):
,Michael Shugarman (Courtesy of RPS)
COLOR: Company 3
- Colorist: Jill Bogdanowicz
- Color Producer: Matt Moran
- Executive Producer: Ashley McKim
AUGMENTED REALITY: 14Four
- Jeff Oswalt – President
- Avery McKee – Producer
- Brandon DeLauney – Creative Director
- Madison Merica – Lead Designer
- Eric Narad – Director of 3D Animation
- Alex Michaluk – Senior Front End Developer / AR Lead
- Jared Darr – Front End Developer
- Coby Forrester – Front End Developer
- Steve Wanless – Technical Strategy Director
Augmented Reality SDK: 8th Wall
AUDIO: Margarita Mix Santa Monica
- Audio Mixer/Sound Designer: Nathan Dubin
- Executive Producer: Whitney Morris
- Executive Producer: Paula Arnett
- Operations Manager: Brian Frank
- Assistant Engineer: Sean Melia
- Assistant Engineer: Mike Murzyn
- Assistant Engineer: Zach Olson
MUSIC(Robo Dog):
- Song – “Total Eclipse of the Heart”
- Written by – Jim Steinman
- Published by – Edward B. Marks Music Company (BMI), Lost Boys Music (BMI)
- Licensed by – Round Hill Carlin, LLC
- Performed by – Bonnie Tyler
- Courtesy of – Sony Music Entertainment
- Music Editor/Creative Director: Rory Doggett // Model Citizen Creative
