Ye Olde Chosun reports that Hyundai — along with Audi and Toyota — may have hurt American pride with its Super Bowl ad.
This year, America’s so-called Big 3 were noticeably absent from the Super Bowl ad list. Boo hoo.
Anyway, good on Hyundai for putting the ad up there… even if Hyundai (Hyeondae) is most certainly NOT pronounced like “Sunday.”
I’m keen to know who came up with the ad concept — I’m guessing it came from this side of the pond.
{ 65 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve tried to watch it but the buffering takes too long…is there another method of seeing it? I’ve got a cable connection here, so it shouldn’t be the connection, should it?
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Innocean is their in-house ad agency. Innocean USA did this one, I’m told.
Not bad, IMHO.
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I could have done without the BMW guy going into a Hitlerian fit of apoplexy.
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Yeah, but it’s got punch. Good ad, that.
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update: World Marketing Group was bought by Innocean US. They created it…
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How exactly does the Chosen say this hurts American pride? …or are they just speculating?
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Ooh, my American pride is so hurt. Anyway, pretty good ad, and I happened to like the Fourth Reich Motors touch.
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it was lexus and bmw in the ad right? Where were Ford, GM, and Chrysler? Who even makes Lexus? wait that was a japanese guy at the beginning. So Korea hurt Japanese and German pride. Those were America’s enemies in World War II. So, um, the pridehurt might not have spread to US citizens.
Not that I would care if they straight up said “Hyundai is better than Ford.” I don’t place my country and the corporations in my country on the same pedestal, as Koreans seem to do with LG, Samsung, and Hyundai. In talking to Koreans you’d think that they voted for Samsung’s CEO.
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“Ye Olde Chosun reports that Hyundai — along with Audi and Toyota — may have hurt American pride with its Super Bowl ad.”
Sort of works on the flawed assumption that, just like Koreans, the American people would get overwhelmingly upset over something as harmless and insignificant as a humorous TV commercial most viewers probably didn’t even notice.
Beyond popping a wood at the prospect of having hurt American pride, has the Chosun reflected yet on possible American reprisals, official or unofficial? How this might impact on the US/Korea alliance? Will Koreans need to get visas again? Has the Korean Embassy in Washington DC taken the appropriate security measures in advance of possible demonstrations by hurt Americans? Will American music fans stop buying all the Rain, Wondergirls, and Big Bang CDs and merchandise they’ve been so eagerly scooping up of late?
Good commercial, by the way. Always a hoot to see stereotypical Japanese and German businessmen freaking out!
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Hmm… Is it just me, or have the ads in U.S. television gaining steady hostility and confrontational attitude lately, in regards to their competition? Some of the ads I’ve seen is like a step short of “Listen, people. Coca-cola sucks donkey balls. Buy Pepsi!”
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#9 HA HA HA! I laughed and laughed!
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The ad follows the “Do you know Dokdo?” meme in an indirect way: “Now you know Hyundai.”
I agree with those above who say that the article makes incorrect assumptions about the regard in which Americans hold their companies.
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bum: polarization, brand loyalty elevated to fierce tribalism, these are tough times, bind your existing customers to you by calling them to battle, offer them the illusion of identity while manipulating their continuance as mere consumers, Coke & Pepsi, bloods & crips, red & blue, this is no time for luxury-based marketing…one thing you could do is call your cable company and tell them you’ve paid your last installment on their poison, reclaim your own attention, get it off the hamster wheel. Remember, even the statement “I’m going to watch the news on CNN” reveals an assumption, one not widely suspected to be a fallacy.
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According to the version of the ad posted here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z3JAvqGK1k
The ad was done by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners ad agency from San Francisco[http://www.goodbysilverstein.com/main_site/main.html). The have been working with Hyundai America since 2007.
The producer of the ad was Elizabeth O’toole who has been with the agency for the past 20 years.
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Goodby, Silverstein and Partners of “Got Milk” fame lead the development. I think Hyundai hit a grand slam with its ads.
The USA Today Contest uses a warm meter joy stick that rewards warm/fuzzy and funny, so Budweiser always wins with their horses and dogs. Ads are supposed to sell products, though, and Clydesdales and Beagles (?!) may win awards, but I don’t know how much beer they sell. The Hyundai ads were clearly aimed at improving awareness, Att-brand and car sales.
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Apparently the ad was created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZzlPTUJECc
Koreans consider it embarrassing to Americans because there are no angry American luxury brand executives yelling to their underlings! This implies that Koreans don’t take American luxury cars seriously. Cadillac has got to be the closest thing to a real American luxury brand out there, however GM subsidiaries are so integrated that I don’t think Cadillac has its own separate management structure anyway.
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I get the feeling that Hyundai’s depiction of the board meetings in the commercial are based somewhat on how they conduct their own board meetings.
The “Hyundai sounds like Sunday” phrase in overseas Hyundai ads date back to, at least, the 1990s.
Also, when are these damn Korean companies going to stop stepping on American pride?
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Regarding the fact that 현대 is in fact not like “Sunday” I find that you just have to make certain allowances. I could, for example, spend 15 minutes to try to teach my non-Korean friends how to PROPERLY pronounce the names of their favorite Korean foods and restaurants or I can just give them easy phonetic equivalents that approximate sounds they are most familiar with. Eventually you just throw-up your hands and tell yourself, “eh, it’s good enough.”
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# 17,
That’s a very good point. Korean bosses probably do yell at their subordinates like that. I’m sure it’s similar in Japan as well, but perhaps a bit more subtle? Similar confucian boss to underling relationships.
Perhaps a Lexus interaction can be something like this:
Fujio Chō: I am displeased by the reception that Hyundai’s new Genesis sedan has garnered in the American press Kiyotaka-san.
Kiyotaka Ise: Yes, but the Americans are a fickle people who are into fads. This Genesis will quickly fad from their memory
Fujio: Kiyotaka-san, I find that attitude somewhat disturbing. Yet I know you have worked diligently to improve our global luxury businesses. As a retirement gift, I’d like you to spend 5 years improving our business in Siberia…
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I don’t think the ad meant to imply anything about US autos. First, american people associate luxury cars with german and japanese cars. Hyundai wants to be included in that group. Second, a detroit suit yelling in ENGLISH would not have the same humor or intended purpose of getting the message across like the german or japanese guy. Third, the detroit suit would have been concerned more about the bailout than a korean car. Fourth, most of the ads sucked.
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There’s nothing wrong about having pride in your nation’s ability to produce fine items of manufacture such as automobiles. That is the problem with the West, there’s no such pride anymore. No wonder manufacturing jobs keep disappearing to overseas. America used to be the world’s premier manufacturer, now it is the world’s top producer of lawyers. What a damn waste. Many economist agree that is still through the production of tangible, concrete things that real wealth is generated. Too bad much of the West has forgotten that. Now it thinks that wealth is generated through financial voodoo tricks and pyramid schemes. The value system is drastically different.
What do Americans take pride these days? American Idol? Reality TV? Super-size me? The size of their dicks? What is it?
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“now it is the world’s top producer of lawyers.”
Hey, don’t forget MBAs. America is also the top producer of MBAs… people who are “taught” how to be “expert” business people!..
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#16,
It’s insulting because the implication is that Americans are stupid for not buying Hyundai cars.
(Koreans who pronounce ‘Hyundai’ like ‘Sunday’ most probably have a speech impediment).
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Uh… the last one?
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It sure makes me wonder who this commercial really was targeting when the Korean media tries so hard to rationalize this one as insult to Americans.
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“Korean bosses probably do yell at their subordinates like that.”
I’m sure some do. One has been known to beat people up with lead pipes.
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Speaking of nationalism in advertisement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL01SReeOqE
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…This is one of the follow-ups to this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRI-A3vakVg&feature=related
Smart commercial since they were targeting teenagers who are too stupid to know that Molson Canadian tastes like piss.
PS. Here’s something you’ll enjoy, Globalvillageidiot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySRf8m3plrM&NR=1
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The hero worship that the Korean people have for their captains of industry allows them to practically get away with murder. How many Korean CEOs have ordered a hit out on some peeps for daring to fight back in a bar brawl against their sons and received a slap on the wrist for it? How many Korean CEOs have killed people in car accidents and were then immediately whisked out of the country back to Korea without any consideration for the due process of the law? How may Korean CEOs have showed up to court in pajamas and a wheelchair and been excused for bribery, extortion, and embezzlement?
In the US we (try to) go after our corrupt CEOs (ENRON) when they get too much out of hand. And lose their political backing. And thousands of people’s retirement benefits.
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Wasn’t impressed at all with this ad. I think it was especially bad for Hyundai to prominently display TWO other company logos before their own.
And does Hyundai STILL have to remind people how to pronounce their name some 15 years after they first started using ads with that tagline? Doesn’t look to me like they’re doing too well with advertising.
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yeah, curiously, the chosun story didn’t seem to mention that no one outside of korea will likely ever think of a hyundai as being in the same class as a lexus or bmw. good cars, to be sure, but i think hyundai has somewhat typecast itself in the higher-end budget to mid-range group.
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“In the US we (try to) go after our corrupt CEOs (ENRON) when they get too much out of hand. And lose their political backing. And thousands of people’s retirement benefits.”
Oh please… America is in no shape to lecture anybody on economics. The level of crookedness in Korea doesn’t even begin to match the crookedness in America.
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#32,
Sure, the stakes are not as high, but in terms of monopolizing control over the government…It’s better to be a big fish in a small pond.
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Here’s what Americans think of the commercial.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/admeter/2009-02-01-results-chart_N.htm
Now, whose pride should be hurting?
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I have been told that Hyundai is spelled with an “ai” (as opposed to the “ae” usually used) because in their early days, Hyundai was trying to look Japanese. Does anyone know if this is true, or is it just one of those nasty things that foreigners say?
gvidiot: Funny.
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“Here’s what Americans think of the commercial.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/…..hart_N.htm
Now, whose pride should be hurting?”
Well.. that was a big waste of money for Hyundai..
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There’s a difference between having pride in a manufacturing industry, and allowing something as insipid as a TV commercial to hurt your pride over said industry. I have the former, and don’t allow the latter to bother me. It’s called “not sweating the small stuff”. Look into it.
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#17, 19, 26 – I was once told by the president of a firm that supplies parts to a certain automotive company one might associate with the city of Ulsan, that verbal abuse is just the tip of the iceberg. Instead of taking people to a contruction site for a beating, some tycoons seem to prefer bouncing ashtrays and glasses off the heads of subordinates and staff without even leaving the bar!
#28 – Someguy, that was good. The guy’s a Habs fan, he appears to be a Labatt 50 drinker, and he has a been known to frequent Club Supersexe on Rue Ste. Catherine in Montreal. Kinda like me!
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We went in and checked it out Supersexe’s menu once. $20 plus tip would have gotten me a 10-minute lap dance in a private room – she could touch me but not I her, and Mrs Linkd wasn’t allowed in to watch. We gave it a pass. (Asia does spoil you in that way, doesn’t it?)
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Jeez, I better watch what the hell I’m writing during these late shifts. Annual report season is upon us again, and there’ll be many more late nights to come.
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The ad doesn’t hurt anyone’s pride. It insults their intelligence. It is over-the-top, borderline racist, and ill-conceived as a marketing strategy.
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“I was once told by the president of a firm that supplies parts to a certain automotive company one might associate with the city of Ulsan, that verbal abuse is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Back in the 1970s, living and working in Ulsan (Hyundai shipping – rhymes with Sunday skipping), I witnessed the verbal abuse of engineers and it was routine back then.
But to get back to the ad, while I also feel that the concept for the ad must have come from this side of the pond, regardless of the ad agency involved, even if I’m wrong, it bespeaks a rudderless marketing strategy in which one Hyundai ad offers to provide a warrenty against job loss, while another ad aims at an upscale market, through the use of lowbrow hystronics.
Unless of course, this lowbrow ad is not aimed at the luxury market but the affluent wanna-be market. Oddly, this market has suffered as the result of the recession.
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#38,
The first time I saw that commercial, I was rolling on the floor laughing as soon as he said, “I smoke in church.” It reminded me of the time I saw two guys having a smoke while stocking the shelves at the supermarket I went too on Cote-des-Neiges.
“…and he has a been known to frequent Club Supersexe on Rue Ste. Catherine in Montreal. Kinda like me!”
He’s even better…His wife is on stage at 10.
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#38,
The first time I saw that commercial, I was rolling on the floor laughing as soon as he said, “I smoke in church.” It reminded me of the time I saw two guys having a smoke while stocking the shelves at the supermarket I went to on Cote-des-Neiges.
“…and he has a been known to frequent Club Supersexe on Rue Ste. Catherine in Montreal. Kinda like me!”
He’s even better…His wife is on stage at 10.
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#42,
Exactly. Besides, do people want to be reminded that their employer could be going tits up while watching the Super Bowl?
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#37 Well thank you for that advice, Darth. Don’t sweating the small stuff. Yeah, I’ll be sure to look into it.
Meanwhile, you guys can return to hairsplitting over-analysis of an imaginary crisis-of-pride generated by a mildly sensational newspaper headline about a silly car commercial seeking to provoke readership, which is what newspaper headline are supposed to do. I mean, don’t let my non-sequitur comments interrupt you.
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# 45
Exactly. Besides, do people want to be reminded that their employer could be going tits up while watching the Super Bowl?
Well, I’m sure that Hyundai commercial didn’t go over too well in Detroit. Another subtle reminder that “dang foreigners are gonna take our jobs” while Detroit seems fated to be the latest addition to America’s Rust Belt, a tragic testimonial of former industrial might. I’m sure many blue collar auto workers had their Super Bowl Sunday ruined by Hyundai. But hey, expats have me convinced that everyone’s pride is intact so it’s all good.
But there is still hope. If the Gooks, Japs and Krauts take over the auto industry, Americans will simply move on to bigger and better things. Cars will be a major Korean export to America. Foreign Engrish-teaching clowns will be America’s biggest export to Korea. Comparative advantage in today’s global economy. All is not lost.
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Forget about not going over well in Detroit. Obama was watching the superbowl and probably didn’t miss that commercial. As our friend Baduk pointed out, this doesn’t bode well for Hyundai.
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The U.S. Commerce Dep’t. just released January auto sales figures. Hyundai and Subaru were the only auto makers to register year on year gains.
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GM down 49%; Ford down 40%; Chrysler down 55%; Toyota down 32%; Honda down 28%; Nissan down 30%.
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Wow… it’s ugly out there.
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Here’s the article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090203/ap_on_bi_ge/auto_sales
Chrysler: -55%
GM: -49%
Ford: -40%
Toyota: -32%
Subaru: + 8%
Hyundai: +14%
Hyundai UP 14% in January in this shitty economy??? They appear to be attributing it to their job loss return guarantee. Looks like it’s turning out to be a smart marketing move that’s stolen a march on everyone else…
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I similar ad has been playing on Korean TV since last year.
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Correction: A similar ad has been playing on Korean TV since last year.
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I think that job-loss return guarantee is going to turn out to be a backbreaking mistake on the part of Hyundai. It’s a great idea — only if your customers don’t actually lose their jobs.
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“Oh please… America is in no shape to lecture anybody on economics. The level of crookedness in Korea doesn’t even begin to match the crookedness in America.”
I’m not in the economics business, but I can tell you that it would be an understatement to say that the level of crookedness my business is MUCH more corrupt and unethical in Korea than the USA.
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The new incentive program that allows consumers to return their vehicles if they lose their jobs shows that Hyundai still finds itself in the unenviable position of having to buy business to maintain a presence as a minor player in the U.S. market.
The 14% increase in January must be seen in light of a 48% drop in U.S. sales in December, which is why they rolled out the incentive program. Hyundai’s U.S. sales fell 14% in 2008,
Even though Hyundai Genesis took car-of-the-year at the Detroit auto show, at Hyundai-Kia’s market niche after 22 years remains the downscale consumer, not the markets for whom the Genesis is aimed (it is their most expensive vehicle starting at $33,000.)
This article shows why Genesis will be a hugh flop:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-11-13-hyundai-genesis_N.htm
It is a desperate attempt to improve the image of a brand that has already been pegged as an entry-level car with a long warranty.
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This is just a ad btw. Nothing serious.
Kia Cerato have similar ad campaign going against to Honda and European luxury cars.
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#57 This article shows why Genesis will be a hugh flop:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/…..esis_N.htm
It is a desperate attempt to improve the image of a brand that has already been pegged as an entry-level car with a long warranty.
OK, I read the article also, which was very interesting BTW. What you see as “desperate” I see as “intrepid”. This is an unexplored territory being charted in uncertain times. Hyundai is offering a luxury car for those who want a luxury car but care little for paying a stiff premium for image and pretense. A value-oriented luxury car. This has not been done before.
The article is very cautious about the challenges that the Genesis faces but it doesn’t totally write it off as a flop as you claim. C’mon Spock, you can do better than that. Where’s your objectivity?
BTW, I happen to believe that the old crappy Hyundai reputation may have an unforeseen beneficial effect for Genesis sales, in a weird reverse-psychology sort of way. It’s better to be a Hyundai Genesis and to exceed low expectations than to be a Lexus or Mercedes Benz and disappoint high expectations demanded of those names. It’s like having sex with a girl who initially thinks you have a small dick but actually later it turns out you have a big dick versus her thinking that you have a big dick but later she finds out you actually have a tiny pecker. I added that last analogy for the sake of the reading comprehension of the American expats, who tend to understand things a lot better if you explain difficult concepts to them in terms of dick size and can readily identify with the latter portion of my analogy.
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“It’s a great idea — only if your customers don’t actually lose their jobs.”
Excellent point…but there are a few catches to the deal.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/06/hyundai-lose-your-job-ret_n_155492.html
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#59,
“BTW, I happen to believe that the old crappy Hyundai reputation may have an unforeseen beneficial effect for Genesis sales, in a weird reverse-psychology sort of way. It’s better to be a Hyundai Genesis and to exceed low expectations than to be a Lexus or Mercedes Benz and disappoint high expectations demanded of those names.”
It will have little affect on the sale of the Genesis (not that it matters if it did. At 33 000$ for the base model, I doubt Hyundai is turning a huge profit on each Genesis it sells). However, the Genesis has apparently achieved what it was designed to do: help improve Hyundai’s image in the US (see comment #52).
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Brendon and Mizar,
I think the Hyundai Assurance plan is brilliant. It’s already paid PR dividends and helped with sales in an overall down year in the entire industry.
Now, is it a financial time bomb? I don’t think so. There are certainly conditions to the plan including credit checks. Can’t qualify for a auto loan, can’t qualify for the assurance program. Plus the assurance is limited to $7,500 of depreciation value and one year. So you lose your job on the 13th month, your out of luck. Lastly, Hyundai literally took an insurance policy as a financial hedge. So if there are a surplus of cars returned that cannot be resold the insurance companies will buy the cars. Overall, this might cost Hyundai less than the mass incentives that American car companies heap on their cars.
Regarding market share, Hyundai’s U.S. market share stands at 7.1% at the end of 2008 when it was only 4.5% in the beginning of 2008 and that’s the fastest growth out of ALL automakers selling cars in the U.S. Hyundai is now the 6th largest car seller in America, just behind Honda and above VW and Nissan. So you can continue to make fun of the company and belittle it, but if you are an auto executive at a competitor, you really can’t afford to.
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Brendon and Mizar,
I think the Hyundai Assurance plan is brilliant. It’s already paid PR dividends and helped with sales in an overall down year in the entire industry.
Now, is it a financial time bomb? I don’t think so. There are certainly conditions to the plan including credit checks. Can’t qualify for a auto loan, can’t qualify for the assurance program. Plus the assurance is limited to $7,500 of depreciation value and one year. So you lose your job on the 13th month, your out of luck. Lastly, Hyundai literally took an insurance policy as a financial hedge. So if there are a surplus of cars returned that cannot be resold the insurance companies will buy the cars. Overall, this might cost Hyundai less than the mass incentives that American car companies heap on their cars.
Regarding market share, Hyundai’s U.S. market share stands at 7.1% at the end of 2008 when it was only 4.5% in the beginning of 2008 and that’s the fastest growth out of ALL automakers selling cars in the U.S. Hyundai is now the 6th largest car seller in America, just behind Honda and above VW and Nissan. Hyundai’s goal is 10% market share in the next year or so and I think they have a great chance of getting there. So you can continue to make fun of the company, underestimate it and belittle it, but if you are an auto executive at a competitor, you really can’t afford to.
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Here’s something that takes Brendon’s view:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0a37dae6-f2ee-11dd-abe6-0000779fd2ac.html
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“So you can continue to make fun of the company and belittle it, but if you are an auto executive at a competitor, you really can’t afford to.”
That’s part of the problem. US politicians are finally speaking out publically against Hyundai, saying that there is no level playing field when it is not saddled with the legacy costs of US auto manufacturers. So it’s not the time to crow about Hyundai’s distant 6th position and temporary sales increase during a time of economic uncertainty. That is why Hyundai is scaling back its US inventory and looking to China.
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