Hyundai Unlocks Super Bowl XLV Drive With Sonata Hybrid Multi-Media Campaign

Hyundai will be among a parking lot filled with auto companies advertising on Fox during Super Bowl XLV. So to help get a fast start on the competition, the car maker will unveil the first TV spot in a planned national multi-media campaign for the Sonata, the brand's first hybrid model, on Dec. 31 during CBS's telecast of college football's Hyundai Sun Bowl.

Hyundai has purchased three 30-second spots on Fox during Super Bowl XLV on Feb, 6, 2011 from Cowboys Stadium. Thirty-second spots for the NFL's big game are going for $2.8-$3 million, per industry analysts. Fountain Valley. Calif.-based Hyundai Motor America's lead agency is its in-house Innocean Worldwide Americas division.

According to Hyundai, the first Sonata Hybrid spot, "Anachronistic City," acknowledges that although the Sonata is not the first hybrid to market, it is the "smart challenger of conventional, early generation hybrids a sophisticated evolution of the technology, wrapped in a more appealing package."

The 30-second spot showcases a variety of inventions that were all innovative in their time, including 1880s-era high wheel bicycles, mid-century typewriters, a blimp, 1980s-era cell phones, a "portable" record turn-table, black-and-white TVs, silent movies a folding camera and even "jiggle belt" exercise machines. The Sonata then appears as the spot makes a point about how all technology evolves.

"Hybrid Sonata capitalizes on the learnings of hybrid models that have come before it, and advances the technology so that it's practical and affordable for a broader consumer audience – not just early adopters," John Krafcik, president and CEO, for Hyundai Motor America, said in a statement. "Like the 2.4-liter direct-injected Sonata and the 2.0-liter Sonata Turbo launched earlier this year, Sonata Hybrid demonstrates Hyundai's unique approach melding innovative technologies and emotional design into products more and more people want to put in their driveways."

Hyundai's title sponsorship of the Sun Bowl, being played in El Paso, Texas, includes eight  30-second spots. In addition to the Hybrid Sonata debut ad, Hyundai said it would include TV spots featuring the two other Sonata powertrains: the standard 2.4-liter gasoline direct injection model and the 2.0-liter turbo model. Hyundai's holiday campaign will continue on the Hyundai Sun Bowl featuring music from singing duo Pomplamoose.