Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler Races Back in Time to Feel Something Again in :60 Super Bowl Ad Created by David&Goliath for the All-New Kia Stinger

Kia’s youth is its greatest weapon. In an industry full of old automakers, Kia is too young to know what can’t be done. There is no better example of this than the all-new Stinger, Kia’s highest performing and most anticipated model in the company’s history. With the Stinger, Kia proves that age isn’t the main factor in pushing the industry forward; it’s passion. And the Super Bowl, one the most watched and most talked about sporting events of the year, is a perfect platform to launch Kia’s message of youthful optimism. 

Created by AOR David&Goliath, Kia’s :60 Super Bowl spot, titled “Feel Something Again,” stars legendary rocker Steven Tyler at an old abandoned racetrack. With the familiar notes of “Dream On” playing backwards, Tyler looks as though he’s about to race the Stinger against another legend, two-time Formula One and Indianapolis 500 champion Emerson Fittipaldi. After a moment of reflection, rather than driving the car forward, Tyler takes the car backwards around the track, in reverse. When he comes to a stop, he finds himself in the early 1970s – a young rock star in his prime, at a moment when he felt most alive. The spot ends with the on-screen text “Feel Something Again.”

David Angelo, founder & chairman of D&G said: “After test driving the Stinger and all its competitors, the biggest difference was that the Stinger made me feel something. The challenge was to bring that feeling to life in a way that was totally unexpected. Kind of like driving backwards on a racetrack to another point in time. We chose Steven Tyler because like the Stinger, he is a challenger brand himself with an ageless, audacious spirit. And while the expectation would be to use humor, we purposefully chose a more serious and epic tone to properly reflect the Stinger’s persona and where the Kia brand is going.”

D&G worked with Nicolai Fuglsig of MJZ, world renowned director of “12 Strong,” to give the spot an epic cinematic, almost haunting, tone.

Angelo added: “One of the biggest challenges was authentically re-creating the 25-year-old version of Steven. We had to get that absolutely right. Fortunately, thanks to the amazing artists at the Mill, we were able to get the glowing approval of Steven, his daughter, friends and a handful of rockers who know him best. With the help of Human, an LA-based music company, and Steven Tyler, we created an original music composition that gradually transforms into Tyler’s ‘Dream On’ – a song about the passage of time – almost as if it was a distant memory that resurfaced as he raced back through the years.”

The driving in reverse concept not only hearkens back to the spirit of youth in both Tyler and Kia, but it’s also a change of course for the brand, which is proving to buck the conventions of the auto industry at every turn.

The Stinger Super Bowl campaign started with the :15 “Fittipaldi” online teaser on 1/25. A :30 launch spot, “The Rise,” will go live in broadcast during the Super Bowl pre-game on Sunday, 2/4. The :60 “Feel Something Again” will post on YouTube the morning of Thursday, 2/1 and will air during the 3rd quarter of the Big Game. Then, beginning Monday, 2/5, a :30 spot titled “What Every Racer Needs” will begin airing to sustain the campaign.

Kia also included a surprise in the spot to inspire people to engage with the brand via social media. Inspired by the legendary use of “backmasking,” a term for hiding secret messages in 70s rock songs, Tyler included a message of his own in the spot. People who watch it on YouTube can hear something garbled but will only make out the actual message when watching the spot in reverse, which will be provided on Kia’s channel. If people tweet the hidden message on Twitter, they might be up for an awesome surprise and delight.  

CREDITS

Agency:  David&Goliath, LA
Founder & Chairman: David Angelo

President: Yumi Prentice

Chief Creative Officer: Bobby Pearce
Executive Creative Director: Gustavo Sarkis

Creative Director: Basil Cowieson

Creative Director: James Cohen

Creative Director: John O’Hea

Creative Director: Courtney Pulver

Copywriter: Mark Monteiro/Steven Tyler

Director of Broadcast Production: Paul Albanese
Executive Broadcast Producer:  Curt O’Brien

Director of Digital Production: Peter Bassett

Digital Sr. Producer: Justine Kleeman

Senior Art Producer: Cara Nieto

Chief Strategy Officer: Wells Davis

Group Planning Director: Andrew Lynch

Planning Director: Ed Gibson

Associate Director of Project Management: Genie Lara

Senior Project Manager: Amy Chiang

Project Manager: Paul Stephens

Managing Director: Jeff Moohr

Account Director: Aleks Rzeznik

Account Supervisor: Annelise Lorenzo

Digital Account Director: Marco Koenig

Digital Account Supervisor: Rebecca Hanson

Product Information Manager: Russ Wortman

Director, Business Affairs: Rodney Pizarro

Senior Business Affairs Manager: Natasha Royzina

Talent Manager: Jason DelosSantos

Production Company: MJZ

Director: Nicolai Fuglsig

Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler

Production Designer: Christopher Glass

President: David Zander

Executive Producer: Emma Wilcockson

Producer: Karen O’Brien

Editorial Company: EXILE

Editor: Grant Surmi

Assistant Editor: Dusten Zimmerman

Executive Producer: CL Weaver

Producer: Brittany Carson

VFX Company: The Mill

Creative Director/VFX Supervisor: Robert Sethi

2D Lead: Tim Rudgard

3D Lead: Jason Monroe 

Executive Producer: Pete King

Executive Producer (Telecine): Thatcher Peterson

Producer: Hillary Thomas

Music/Sound Design Company: Human

Creative Director/Sound Designer: Mike Jurasits

Composer/Arranger: Matthew O’Malley

Composer/Arranger: James Leibow

Composer/Arranger: Jon Hubbell

Composer/Arranger: Tom Keery

Composer/Arranger: Andy Bloch

Executive Producer: Jonathan Sanford

Mix: Margarita Mix, Santa Monica

Sound Engineer: Nathan Dubin

Executive Producer: Whitney Warren

Licensed Music: “Dream On” by Steven Tyler