Hospital-bound children often can’t get out and experience the trappings of the holidays, so Kia America brought the season to them with a virtual car trip to the North Pole.
The brand used one of its all-electric vehicles, along with digital walls and other advanced gadgetry, to give youngsters at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee a chance to “travel” without leaving the safety of the facility.
And the kids’ reactions to the high-tech adventure, captured in a hero spot from David&Goliath, are 60 seconds of pure, unbridled delight.
For the first time in the hospital’s history, its administration allowed a commercial production on-site, per the brand. “Holiday Joyride” was filmed in the lobby of the St. Jude location in Memphis, Tenn.
Virtual ride, genuine joy
Creatives wanted to design “something very real and memorable,” according to Ben Purcell, D&G’s chief creative officer. “We put the kids first.”
To make the journey come to life, Kia and partner Nexus Studios built a custom 50-by-100-foot set that included nearly 300 curved LED screens surrounding an all-electric Kia EV6. The car was mounted on a system of four hydraulic compressors so it could raise and lower, with its movements reflecting the story unfolding around it.
Children were belted into the back seat—their parents were “driving”—so they could coast through a tunnel of red and green lights and see a starry night sky, personalized with their names.
The virtual landscape also included snow-covered pine trees, a galloping reindeer, a soaring eagle and a swimming narwhal. The car seemed to fly above the rooftops on the way to its arctic destination.
“We hope to provide holiday cheer to those families that are facing the most difficult of circumstances with dignity, bravery and grace,” Russell Wager, Kia’s vice president of marketing and one of Adweek’s 2022 Brand Genius honorees, said in a statement. “Kia is honored to be a small part of the impact St. Jude has on so many.”
Kia will give at least $1 million to the hospital through the initiative, which includes a donation for each car purchased during the year-end season, as part of its ongoing “Accelerate the Good” program.
The 1-minute video will air on broadcast TV and cut-downs will be distributed on digital platforms. The campaign will also include radio, out of home, print, point of sale and social media extensions.
Kia, which has put a lot of its marketing muscle behind its electric cars, put the EV6 in its Super Bowl 2022 spot alongside an expressive robo dog that quickly became a fan favorite. The ad, which marked Kia’s return to the Big Game after a 2021 absence, also had a charitable tie-in, with the Petfinder Foundation.
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