Kia Needs Better Writing for Ads in Order to Compete With Heavy Hitters at the Super Bowl

Now that I finally get it, it seems to be well thought out, even though ultimately, it's to its detriment. The whole point of an ad is to be transparent and catchy in order to be easily understood by as many people as possible. At the end of the day, it's a car commercial, you're not advertising Dostoevsky. A great example would be the really funny Arnold Schwarzenegger and Salma Hayek BMW ad.

Kia's “The Sapling” starts with the protagonist walking carelessly in a pavement-riddled urban area when he comes across a small, dying tree sapling. Even the protagonist is curious about how it managed to survive.

He gets it out of the ground and puts it in a cardboard coffee cup, not plastic, of course. He treats it like it's another person, even placing it in the front passenger seat with the seatbelt on. I think I did that as well at some point, but in my case, it was with beer.

So he starts driving his brand-new 2023 Kia Niro Hybrid out of town, across a bridge, over some crop fields, and rests at a diner. For some reason, he doesn’t get anything but pours a glass of water for the plant.

Afterward, he moves on, but on the way, he just has to stop to enjoy the view across a lake, sitting in a romantic fashion on a bench with the sapling, while watching the sunset “together.”

Obviously, the Kia Niro is in the shot as well because, otherwise, what would be the point of that scene? Also, the cool, carefree song playing in the background goes well with everything that’s happening. In other words, the cinematography and editing are really well done.

Now, when I saw this, I asked myself what’s the message here? That the dude has no responsibility towards anyone and that he can disappear for days at a time just to help out a tree sapling?

Either it’s the weekend, and he has absolutely no plans and no job to go to, or he’s so wealthy that this devil-may-care attitude is just his style.

All these questions popped into my head, and the ad became really funny for me while I was trying to figure out this guy’s motivation for doing all of this.

He then finally reaches a mountainside, after driving who knows how many miles, just to plant the tree sapling in the ground, in the wild, with its “brothers and sisters.”

In the next shot, we see the guy having one last glance at the sapling that he just “released” into the wild, akin to an endangered species of animal. It amused me that his expression was just screaming something in the means of “Yeah... I’m saving the planet one tree at a time. I'm so awesome.”

Then, he drives off back to his natural habitat, the pavement-riddled urban area. The last shot of the ad says “Farther for all” and ends with “All-new Kia Niro Hybrid. Best-in-class 53 MPG (4.4 l/100 km) combined.”

The first time I didn’t quite get it, but that’s just me, a bit slower in some regards. So when I saw it again, it finally hit me. The guy drove all this way out of town, over a bridge, across some fields, and into the mountains just to plant a tree, because he could afford to pay for the gas, given that the new Niro Hybrid has such a great fuel economy.

I started laughing out loud because I didn’t know if I was too dense to get it, the commercial was too subtle, or both.

In any case, overall, I think it’s a good ad, but oh boy, do they need better writing if they’re planning on dropping something for the Super Bowl next year.

Now for those interested, the 2023 Kia Niro Hybrid has the same engine across all trims. The 1.6-liter gasoline engine, along with the 32 kW (44 ps/43 hp) electric motor. That translates to a total of 139 hp (141 ps/104 kW), with 195 lb-ft (264 Nm) of torque.

It has a front-wheel drive system with a dual-clutch six-speed automatic transmission. The combined fuel consumption is obviously 53 mpg (4.4 l/100 km) combined, as stated in the ad.

Prices start from $26,490 for the LX trim and go all the way up to $34,790 for the SX Touring package. Taxes are not included, of course.