Well that’s quite the ad.
Hats off, Kia Australia.
The car manufacture has released a commercial to announce it’s venturing into ‘ute world’ — the utility vehicle is a cultural staple in Australia and South Korean car maker is joining the conversation.
And the announcement has caused more than just a stir, leveraging another key cultural staple down under — our love for sport.
Kia Australia’s advertising campaign, “Kia’s getting a ute”, to publicly announce its move into the tradie and wannabe tradie realm, features a jaw-dropping cast of Aussie sporting megastars.
Kia Australia’s star-studded ad for new Tasman ute
The commercial has already resonated sharply with Australians, drawing on the ‘oh-so-Aussie’ themes of heroes, rivalries and pub culture — all of them intertwined smartly. Oh, and nicknames… lots of nicknames.
Ariel Martin, from production group Scoundrel, directed this masterpiece, which doesn’t contain any jarring moments where you can tell one of the sporting icons is out of their depth with the cameras rolling.
Another layer of elegant complexity is teasing what the model will be called (Tasman), without giving it away.
Rugby League great Allan Langer throws a dart at a map that hits a ‘Tasman Sea’ label, while at the end it pans up past the name of the pub, revealing ‘Hotel Tas…’ – only those letters appear.
Which Australian sporting stars feature in the ad?
“Kia Tugga? Kia Buddy? Kia Big Dell?”
Here’s every sporting icon we noticed in the commercial:
- Steve Waugh, former Australian cricket captain
- Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, former Sydney Swans and Hawthorn forward, AFL
- John Aloisi, former footballer and Socceroos World Cup hero
- Mackenzie Arnold, current Matildas first-choice goalkeeper and World Cup hero
- Alexander Volkanovski, UFC superstar, former world featherweight champion
- Wendell Sailor, former NRL and Rugby Union winger, dual-code Test representative
- Ash Barty, former tennis world number one and three-time Grand Slam champion
- Dylan Alcott, former wheelchair tennis sensation, 15-time Grand Slam champion
- Darren Lockyer, former Broncos, Maroons and Kangaroos star, Rugby League
- Dermott Brereton, former AFL star and high profile broadcaster, AFL Hall of Famer
- Allan ‘Alfie’ Langer, former Broncos and Maroons halfback, 4-time premiership winner
- Jessica Watson, sailed solo around the world at the age of 16, 2011 Young Australian of the Year
- Adam Reynolds with Pat Carrigan, current Brisbane Broncos stars
- Damien Oliver, former horse racing jockey, 3-time Melbourne Cup winner
- David Boon, former Australian cricketer and iconic figure, 107 Tests
- Scott Sattler, former Rugby League player and Grand Final hero with the Panthers (2003)
- Kerry O’Keeffe, former Australian Test leg-spinner, cricket, well-loved broadcaster
“It’s not often I get to work on a campaign that draws on my bottomless pit of obscure Australian sporting knowledge,” Ariel Martin, the director, said.
“It was a fun set, with all of our sporting legends fully onboard to create the world of this mythical pub.”
