Created by agency David&Goliath, Kia’s :60 Super Bowl spot, titled “Feel Something Again,” stars legendary rocker Steven Tyler at an old abandoned racetrack. With the familiar notes of “Dream On” playing backwards, Tyler looks as though he’s about to race the Kia Stinger against another legend, two-time Formula One and Indianapolis 500 champion Emerson Fittipaldi. After a moment of reflection, rather than driving the car forward, Tyler takes the car backwards around the track, in reverse. When he comes to a stop, he finds himself in the early 1970s–a young rock star in his prime, at a moment when he felt most alive. The spot ends with the on-screen text “Feel Something Again.”

David Angelo, founder & chairman of David&Goliath, said: “After test driving the Stinger and all its competitors, the biggest difference was that the Stinger made me feel something. The challenge was to bring that feeling to life in a way that was totally unexpected. Kind of like driving backwards on a racetrack to another point in time. We chose Steven Tyler because like the Stinger, he is a challenger brand himself with an ageless, audacious spirit. And while the expectation would be to use humor, we purposefully chose a more serious and epic tone to properly reflect the Stinger’s persona and where the Kia brand is going.”

D&G worked with director Nicolai Fuglsig of MJZ to give the spot an epic cinematic, almost haunting, tone.

Angelo added: “One of the biggest challenges was authentically re-creating the 25-year-old version of Steven. We had to get that absolutely right. Fortunately, thanks to the amazing artists at The Mill, we were able to get the glowing approval of Steven, his daughter, friends and a handful of rockers who know him best. With the help of Human, an LA-based music company, and Steven Tyler, we created an original music composition that gradually transforms into Tyler’s ‘Dream On’–a song about the passage of time—almost as if it was a distant memory that resurfaced as he raced back through the years.”

Credits

Client Kia Agency David&Goliath, Los Angeles David Angelo, founder/chairman; Bobby Pearce, chief creative officer; Gustavo Sarkis, executive creative director; Basil Cowieson, James Cohen, John O’Hea, Courtney Pulver, creative directors; Mark Monteiro, Steven Tyler, copywriters; Paul Albanese, director of broadcast production; Curt O’Brien, executive broadcast producer; Peter Bassett, director of digital production; Justine Kleeman, digital sr. producer; Cara Nieto, sr. art producer; Wells Davis, chief strategy officer. Production MJZ Nicolai Fuglsig, director; Alwin Kuchler, DP; Christopher Glass, production designer; Emma Wilcockson, exec producer; Karen O’Brien, producer. Editorial Exile Grant Surmi, editor; Dusten Zimmerman, assistant editor; CL Weaver, exec producer; Brittany Carson, producer. VFX Pete King, exec producer; Hillary Thomas, producer; Vanessa Yee, production coordinator; Robert Sethi, shoot supervisor/creative director/art director; Tim Rudgard, shoot supervisor/2D lead artist; Jason Monroe, shoot supervisor/3D lead artist; Steve Cokonis, 2D lead artist; Daniel Thuresson, Lisa Ryan, Jeannie “Remedy” Huynh, Benoit Mannequin, Lior Weiss, Jason Bergman, Ed Black, Ashley Forbito, Chris Hunsberger, Kai Chun Tsai, Krysten Richardson, Glyn Tebbutt, Daniel Lang, Elliot Brennan, Ian Blewitt, Adrian White, Adam Lambert, Matt Dobrez, Stefan Smith, Tom Van Dop, Yukiko Ishiwata, 2D artists; Chris Bayol, Cory Cosper, Nole Murphy, Omar Taher, Brian Lee, Benjamin Chan, Danny Garcia, Freddy Parra, Jae Jun Yi, James Robinson, Jinguang Huang, Alice Panek, Elizabeth Hammer, Jeremy Ramirez, Steven Olson, Dan Warom, Michael Lori, Ed Laag, 3D artists; Rasha Shalaby, Andy Wheater, Marissa Krupen, matte painting; Jacob Bregman, animation; Adam Scott, colorist; Thatcher Peterson, EP, color; Liza Kerlin, sr. color producer. (Toolbox: Flame, Nuke Maya) Music/Sound Design Human Mike Jurasits, creative director/sound designer; Matthew O’Malley, James Leibow, Jon Hubbell, Tom Keery, Andy Bloch, composers/arrangers; Jonathan Sanford, exec producer. Audio Post Margarita Mix, Santa Monica Nathan Dubin, sound engineer; Whitney Warren, exec producer. Licensed Music “Dream On” by Steven Tyler

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