Modern men and women are target of new Kia ads

I love it!

I’m groaning.

I don’t mind these ads, but I think they’ve made one obvious (and potentially significant) error. The woman stepped into the Sorento SUV, all while rolling off characteristics which seemed to fit with a smaller car. The male, expressing his ‘pram pushing’ skills etc. clearly should’ve been the one getting into the Sorento, rather than the sedan. Minor, one might say, but in the world of advertising, every decision matters.

These are good!

Massively cringe-inducing. Bet they tried to get Russell Crowe to do it.

very different for a car

yeah, i like it

Is that really a story – surely there’s more commentary around why the client’s decided to go down this route? “Kia has launched two new ads” with a description of each ad isn’t a story – we might as well just wait for the ad on TV.

That’s not advertising the brand, it’s advertising the demographic, with product placement. (See also ANZ above.) Now imagine all those ads running together.

I’m a blind-date chasing, inner city living, bag-wearing, unretouched, sausage-sizzling, story-telling, time-poor, device-flicking industry clone called Sam. Or was it Lauren? And where did I park my car?

I’m an advert-consuming Mumbrella-reading marketing-ing Twittering twat.

George Carlin

I am a cliche…I am a stereotype…I am shallow as a car park puddle….I think everyone looks, thinks and acts like me. I am in need of a reality check as to how real people look, think and act. I am lacking an idea. I substituted the lack of one with the demographic profile in the brief. I am in advertising. I am off to lunch to congratulate myself on just being a wanker!

I like them ! … only … I do agree with one of the other commenters … she would definately have the sedan … my Potts Point girlfriend – it could be her in the TVC – has just bought one and they are surprising stylish … so yeah def he should have the SUV and she should have the stylish sedan ….

I prefer the original which is unsurprisingly called ” Modern Man” but the “Copy” cat-astrophe does not end there . Over to you George – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xquT2g01Jx4

The guy is everything that is wrong with people these days. The girl is alright, I guess.

So probably an accurate portrayal of modern men and women then!

Wow. As said it is just a re hash of George Carlin. Plain terrible.

Over indulgence in creative irony that is a complete disconnect with the real Kia buyers. Both of these advertising characters wouldn’t be seen dead in a Kia.

Lolz that is so me!!
I haf to buy that car.

Oh dear. Poor Kia. Lost allot of sales to men there.
Who would aspire to be this wanker?

The Creative Director for this piece of shit should be fired.

An insult to the late great George Carlin.

Tony, January 14th captured everything I wanted to say. At 58, and not the projected demographic, I would never consider a Kia. Their appeal to “wankers” could be rewarding if there are enough “wankers” out their seduced by their advertising.

I am “no longer considering a Kia”

Ha….

Just saw that ad… Im embarrassed just thinking about it

Its a shame George isn’t alive, he would have ripped the shit out of that ad. Didn’t see anywhere in the credits the name (Creative Director.Unthanked,Material Stolen From – George Carlin RIP)

Kia have just lost MAJOR browie points with anyone who understands what they’ve done

Ughhhh……

I think I’m roughly the demographic for these ads. They are truly awful and sadly for Kia have created a strongly negative association with the brand for me. In fact I’ved found the ad is so annoying I’ve jumped on google to find like minded people to share my pain wtih. It’s rare that an ad produces this kind of response in me. Why is it so bad? I think it’s mainly the script which seems to be a shoddy pastiche of trite assumptions and shallow characterisation which Tony 14 Jan sums up well. But then again, the smugly strident delivery of the lines somehow manages to amp up the sense the protagonist is shallower than Lake Eyre in a drought. Utterly cringe inducing.

All very true. It is an annoying advertisement, although usually the less benign an ad is, the more it is remember/talked about and thus has more potential to sell its product. I took more notice when I realised that they bump into one another at thier midpoints and thought “that is clever”

This makes me sick. George would never had to agree to this. Surely it breaches some kind of copyright of his material.

By the way, if anyone here is in marketing or advertising…kill yourself. Thank you. Just planting seeds, planting seeds is all I’m doing. No joke here, really. Seriously, kill yourself, you have no rationalisation for what you do, you are Satan’s little helpers. Kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself now. Now, back to the show. Seriously, I know the marketing people: ‘There’s gonna be a joke comin’ up.’ There’s no fuckin’ joke. Suck a tail pipe, hang yourself…borrow a pistol from an NRA buddy, do something…rid the world of your evil fuckin’ presence.
Bill Hicks

This is the only TV ad I have ever felt compelled to, and do, mute. I cringe. I am embarrassed.

The one with the lady: simply horrendous!

What an awful character. She should be getting into a Lexis; that is what fck wits drive isn’t it? Or perhaps a BMW, another brand associated with twerps.

I do not like it.

This is the most pathetic rip of George Carlin. Maybe they’ll “reference” what Bill Hicks said about marketing and copy that next?

Yep they are truly awful…I’m not surprised the copywriting was two blokes they have the woman so ridiculously wrong and smug. The fact they are trying to target the ‘modern woman’ with this try too hard attempt at sounding ‘with it’ is so cringy. That agency need some serious youth and fresh creativity. Ugh.

Ok I get it, copy a Calin bit which parodies the wankers the advert is intended to market too. Ha the joke is on the wankers, great.

Ok I get it, rip-off Calin’s bit which parodies the wankers the advert is aimed at. Wonderful! the joke is on the wankers and probably KIA as well, very nice.

for those who usually mute this ad, it wasn’t possible for anyone actually at the Aus Open, where we had to endure it at nearly every set break and extended delay last week. They are embarrassing, cringe-inducing and arrogant, IMO.

For the ones who said they like it, for what reason? The ads are obviously speaking to some people so I’d honestly love to know what the appeal is. Kia’s The Message ads were a bit grating but I liked the old-school rap reference, which is not to everyone’s taste

Un-f*cking-believably bad

My wife and I are looking to buy an SUV and the Kia Sportage was something we were considering. Love the design, great value, shame it’s made by Kia. Same conundrum that I’m sure many other people are wrestling with in the SUV market. Why spend $30k more (at least) for a European car?

This ad has ended any possibility of me ignoring the social death that is driving a Kia. I was worried about what firends and family would make of my purchase decision (yes I am shallow). After watching this I’m worried about what every single road user would think.

What on earth was the agency/client thinking? This will set them back 10 years at least.

This is the power of advertising eh? Your purchasing decision is based upon an ad that actually says nothing about the car itself (the product you are buying)? Lighten up

@ Steve. Re: For the ones who said they like it, for what reason?

I would say they are associated with the ad, in some way shape or form.

Awful – I would pull it if I were in charge of the Kia brand. (Actually I would never have allowed it to go to air.)

Yeah the people that say they like it are almost certainly at the agency. The parody made the front page of MX today and the KIA brand spokesperson said he liked it in addition to adding that the original ad was ‘a metaphor’ for the modern lifestyle, ummmm I think you might have missed the meaning of metaphor mate…
And according to him ‘People like it and relate to it…” which people exactly?

“some people don’t get it” – that would be most people then.

Thanks for patronising us yet again mainstream advertising

Seriously I want to go into these agencies and kick their arses, I could come up with better concepts half asleep with a giraffe munching quietly on my trepanned brain

These ads are the most pretentious bull shit I,ve seen for many years. Who in their right mind would want to aspire to being these wankers! What is kia thinking of?

I hated the ad with a passion. Usually a passive person who likes everything, I went out of my way to find a site where I could express my utter dismay at such a rediculous ad. The woman grated on my nerves and made no sense what so ever. A pathetic ad for a crap car.

It’s weird coz I just saw the chick version of this ad and thought “that seems like a spoken word piece – the flow, the rhythm. But a weak one. Lacking the engine of any genuine emotion. The squealing brakes of any narrative surprise”. In short: an ad.

And then I saw the Carlin piece and it all made sense. The ad is – of course – an “homage”. Now I just have to put on a balaclava and some gloves to perform an “homage” on my neighbour’s valuables.

Maybe (only in my mind) people will somehow hear someone like Miles Merrill and say: “Hey, he’s just like a Kia ad”.

I don’t care what these ads are advertising, I just like them!

To the Kia marketing department: If your brief was to create the most obnoxiously smug advertisements then with your new “Woman of Now” and “Man of Now” ads you have succeeded admirably.

The next add I want to see them advertising outback camping gear with no net coverage! We will see their swagger then..:)

Makes my husband want to kill people

Simply horrible ad. I never thought I’d be less inclined to buy a kia. These talentless idiots that created this mess obviously have no creativity, as it’s a blatant rip-off off the great George Carlin. It’s by no means a homage, Carlin was parodying the smugness of the modern person, whereas this ad seems to celebrate it. It seems as if the modern man/woman are superficial, arrogant, self-obsessed douchbags.

wow – is that the modern woman ? I lived in NYC for years and she sounds like a hard boiled cop on the beat in the Bronx ! Is that what is now expected of a woman to be assertive and respected ?

so, some weak-minded narcissistic dimwits rip-off the Hungry Thirsty ads in addition to carlin, to sell cars to weak-minded narcissistic dimwits who think that “tweeting” means they have an opinion? what’s original about this garbage? it’s a bad xerox of a mediocre ad for a mediocre product.

The only ad worse than this is the current promo for Rockwiz.