• by Karl Greenberg , January 11, 2016

Kia has been touting its new Optima midsize sedan since last fall. Now, the automaker is bringing in the voice of Christopher Walken. The new ads, via David & Goliath, KMA’s advertising agency of record, tout the car as a “defiant midsize masterpiece” and “exceptionally tasty treat” in a crowded field of cars that look and drive the same.

The Optima campaign launched with spots starring NBA player Blake Griffin, in which he is on an astral plane of sorts, in which the Optima appears. The automaker will continue that theme as it will advertise during the Super Bowl, as well, for the seventh consecutive time. The automaker says it will run a 60-second spot for the car. Toyota also announced on Monday that it will advertise during the Super Bowl, but hasn’t revealed what the creative will be or when it will run. 

Meanwhile, at the first press day at the Detroit Auto show, on Monday, the automaker showed a concept for a full-size SUV, filling an open spot in the company’s lineup, above the Sorento SUV. The vehicle, called Telluride, also would be the first from the automaker that offers three-row seating in a luxury setting. 

Also at the auto show, the One Club announced its worldwide winners of the 3rd annual Auto Advertising of the Year winners. American Honda and sibling Acura won in the Broadcast TV category, the former for its corporate ad “Paper,” by AOR, Santa Monica-based RPA; the latter for “The Test” by sibling Acura, where an Acura engineer imagines its his own family, not crash test dummies being used in a collision. 

Chevrolet wins in the interactive category for “Technology and Stuff,” which did jiu jitsu on a Chevy regional zone manager’s comment that went viral. Chevrolet hashtagged his quote to tout the Colorado midsize pickup. 

There were two winners in the online video category: Hyundai Motor’s “A Message to Space”, where Innocean’s head office in Seoul used a dozen or so Genesis sedans to spell out a message in the desert to one of the space station astronauts from his daughter; and Daimler’s “Uncrashable Toy Cars” video for Mercedes-Benz, by Jung Von Matt/Hamburg, which used children who love to crash toy cars. The kids get toy cars that, because of reversed magnets, can’t collide. The kids are enraged, but the message is that crash avoidance technology makes it near impossible to bend the fenders of a Mercedes.  

Land Rover wins in the Print and Outdoor category for the “Test Driver Billboard,” created by Y&R/Singapore. The execution was an actual Land Rover Evoque set in a real roadside billboard in Singapore, that could be taken for a test drive. 

For experiential marketing, BMW’s New Zealand division’s “Reverse April Fools”, by DDB Group New Zealand, won. The promo involved a newspaper ad openly touted as April Fools stunt, in which the person who came to a specific BMW dealership in Auckland would win a Bimmer X5. Only one person responded. She won the car, and BMW got global media attention. 

Ontario Honda Dealers Association won the dealer ad category for “mister Bunny’s Journey” by DS+P/Toronto. Finally, “Safety Truck,” by Samsung, via Leo Burnett Argentina in Buenos Aires, won for corporate social responsibility.