Hyundai Motor America will be in theaters this holiday weekend with cinema ads playing up its “Smart” campaign.
The 90-second spot will be seen beginning today in 1,110 AMC Entertainment, Cinemark USA, Regal Entertainment Group and other network affiliate theaters on about 12,200 screens.
The ads open with the question, “Who in the world doesn’t want to be smart?” The spots illustrate why being smart is good and incorporates historical footage of leaders and characters such as Albert Einstein, Presidents John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as well as the professor from “Gilligan’s Island.” Siltanen & Partners created the ads.
The Smart spot marks the second in-cinema effort for Hyundai over the past year. Last October the “Life Shapes” ads ran showing Philobolus dancers coming together to form the new Hyundai Santa Fe, marketed as “flexible, agile, for whatever shape life takes.” That ad will also appear beginning today on National CineMedia’s Lobby Entertainment Network, which includes 1,800 video and plasma screens placed in the lobbies of more than 690 theaters.
“We had tremendous success in theaters with our first Hyundai Santa Fe integrated campaign, so we decided to return for the sequel,” said Hyundai Motor America senior national advertising manager Chris Perry, in a statement. “Using cinema to reach consumers —particularly during the busy, movie-going Memorial Day weekend—provides a nice supplement to our advertising and marketing efforts aimed at getting our ‘smart’ messaging out there.”