KIA: Expectations, when they’re not as high as they should be
Five stars spot. People have problems with Korean cars. Not in the mechanical sense, but with their image and general perception. It’s just like with Skoda Superb. You know that it is basically cheaper Volkswagen Passat, and you’re really doing a good deal buying it, but deep inside in your head you think – c’mon, it is JUST a Skoda… For a long time Asian cars were just affordable small cars, whose only function was fuel efficiency. But KIA, DAEWOO, HYUNDAI etc. also want to be selling luxury cars. Honda and Toyota gave up long time ago, and created different brands for their state-of-the-art vehicles (Acura and Lexus). I remember when I’ve first seen KIA Sorento, and mistook it with Mercedes M-class. A very cheap move, showing only that the manufacturer hadn’t had its own identity.
With this spot KIA is trying to show us, that it knows what our expectations are, and that they’ve read the how-to-sell-luxury-cars handbook. Self-irony, mockage of the schemes is excellent. Everything here is on the right place, so why do we bother with the plaque which is saying KIA instead of Mercedes? Are we so vain? Yes we are, so good luck KIA in changing your image. With this spot you’ve done a lot.
But the strong side of this commercial is also a weak one. So, ok they are convincing us, that they’re that same like the other luxury SUVs, so what does make them extraordinary? We know that it is the price, they say that KIA Borrego is a new kind of a SUV. Not convincing enough, but it hard to discover the gunpowder again, right?