This year, Hyundai’s humorous Super Bowl commercial shows how Hyundai Shopper Assurance can elevate the car buying experience without the fearful glances and groans of life’s other dreadful moments. The 60-second ad, “The Elevator,” will air during the first quarter of the game.
In the spot, Jason Bateman stars as an elevator operator in a building full of life’s best and worst experiences. When a happy couple explains they are going car shopping, the elevator descends stopping on floors named “Root Canal,” “Jury Duty,” “Middle Seat” (airplane purgatory), “The Talk” (a lesson on the birds and the bees), and Vegan Dinner Party (serving “beetloaf) where other passengers reluctantly step off. The elevator reaches “Car Shopping” and the doors open to a car lot with blaring music and inflatable “air dancers.” After realizing the couple used Shopper Assurance, Bateman cranks the elevator upwards and they are greeted by their brand-new Hyundai Palisade.
Jim Jenkins of O Positive directed “The Elevator” for agency INNOCEAN USA.
“For us, this commercial is a return to our comedic roots,” said Barney Goldberg, executive creative director, INNOCEAN USA. “We want it to be more than just laughs, though. We really aim for consumers to see themselves in our spot.”
Credits
Client Hyundai Motor America Agency INNOCEAN USA Barney Goldberg, VP, executive creative director; Jeff Bossin, VP, group creative director; Ryan Scott, creative director; Brook Boley, associate creative director, art; Carrie Talick, associate creative director, copy; Nicolette Spencer, VP, head of content production; Melissa Moore, sr. producer; Devondra Dominguez, content producer. Production O Positive Jim Jenkins, director; Marc Grill, exec producer; Devon Clark, head of production; Sameet Patadia, production supervisor; Trent Opaloch, DP. Casting Envision Studios Editorial Arcade Edit Geoff Hounsell, editor; Damian Stevens, managing partner; Crissy DeSimone, exec producer; Kirsten Thon-Webb, head of production; Adrienne Tararin, sr. producer; Josh Miller, assistant editor. Color Company 3 Dave Hussey, sr. colorist; Gabriel Wakeman, producer. VFX JAMM, Santa Monica, Calif. Brian Hajek, VFX supervisor/lead compositor; Jake Montgomery, Miles Essmiller, Mark Holden, Flame artists; Fred Hopp, CG artist; Asher Edwards, exec producer; Ashley Greyson, producer. (Toolbox: Houdini, Mantra, Flame) Mix/Record Studio Lime Studios Mark Meyuhas, sr. mix engineer; Peter Lapinski, assistant sound engineer; Susie Boyajan, exec producer. Sound Design LSD Michael Anastasi, Kai Paquin, sound designers; Susie Boyajan, exec producer. Music Massive Music Scott Cymbala, managing director; Ben Einziger, Tim Adams, creative directors; Kiki McDaniel, producer.
How do you top one of the most viral brand videos ever made? Spoiler alert: you can’t. But when Dollar Shave Club tapped Zack Seckler to direct a new campaign to revive the absurdist humor of its iconic launch video, he knew he had a rare opportunity to create something special.
The brief was simple: introduce the concept of a physical “Club” that people would love to join while showcasing Dollar Shave Club’s products and embracing the weird. From script to direction and post, Seckler--an alum of SHOOT’s 2021 New Directors Showcase--was invited to help sculpt that vision.
The result is this “Welcome to the Club” spot which invites us to join a unique, seemingly exclusive but in reality an accessible and affordable fraternity of Dollar Shave Club members. But you need to know the password or more accurately, the two-word phrase--"shave money."
“The Club” campaign brings the brand back to its humorous roots, reflecting a new chapter after being acquired by Nexus Capital Management from Unilever in late 2023. The work takes Dollar Shave Club back to its disruptive beginnings and what made the brand a viral sensation from its inception in 2011.
