Robot Becomes Jealous of Kia EV

Kia’s new EV campaign via Innocean Australia positions their electric range as the envy of even the most sophisticated tech on the market — so sophisticated, in fact, that it’s making other machines jealous.

Another day, another humanoid robot hits the internet, destined to one day help families with chores around the house. To promote their growing range of highly impressive electric vehicles, Kia Australia imagines a (not-so-distant) world where these robots have become so commonplace that they are essentially members of the family.

But what happens when a new member enters the family, in this case, a brand new all-electric Kia EV5 loaded to the sunroof with the latest tech?

The campaign introduces Roger, a household-chore-loving robot who gets so envious of the new family arrival that he goes "off-program" and tries to sabotage the new family member.

But soon, Roger realises he’s not the only robot coming to terms with the superior machines. Viewers also meet another robot who is so in awe of Kia’s new all-electric EV4 sedan that he tries to mimic it by painting himself the exact same Yacht Blue colour.
The central question remains: Will the robots learn to accept the superior machines, or will they end up in the council cleanup?

The campaign, which features 1x 60” 3 x 30” and commercials supported by OOH and social, launched January 18th. It will air during Kia’s 25th year of sponsoring the Australian Open, leveraging the enormous viewership to showcase Kia's diverse five-vehicle EV lineup.

Innocean Australia creative directors, Nick Cole and Pat Allenby, said, “We thought, what better way to show off Kia EV’s as high-tech pieces of machinery, than to tap into the global fad of humanoid robots, imagine them in the homes of Australia and then have them become childishly insecure when faced with not being the favourite piece of tech in the house anymore.

"Creating unique, lifelike robots that you can feel empathy for was a mammoth task and the whole team masterfully knocked it out of the park.”

Dean Norbiato, general manager of marketing at Kia Australia, said, "This year marks a massive milestone for us -- 25 years sponsoring the Australian Open. It’s the perfect platform to launch a campaign that highlights just how far our brand and tech have come. With the introduction of the EV4 sedan, our electric range is now one of the biggest in the Australian market.

"We wanted an entertaining campaign that demonstrated, in a quintessentially Kia way, the breadth and capability of our electric vehicle tech."

Brendan Willenberg, executive creative director at Innocean Australia, said, "Tech Envy’ is real, and projecting that onto robots gives us a fun, fresh way to show off the incredible features of Kia’s growing EV range without getting bogged down in talking about specs."