Hip Hop Hamsters Jump the Shark

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It's really no surprise this latest Kia Soul Hamster ad from David & Goliath is getting a bad rap. After all, sequels rarely live up to the original. The first two outings in this campaign where original and amusing. Looking back at the first spot in this campaign, you can sense the originality in the concept.

Upon viewing the second spot, you can sense the progression of the campaign and the central characters from early onset hipsters to full blown hip hop stars of the hood. Sadly, the third outing has reduced the hip hop hamsters to caricatures of themselves. They've become the comic relief in a video game.

Now you've all probably witnessed the power of LMFAO's Party Rock and how it can persuade even the most dance floor shy individual to cut loose and rip it up...usually with extremely embarrassing results. And that was probably part of the concept here. To bust up a battle with the power of dance. But it doesn't work.

While you might be able to get a few nightclub assholes to stop being assholes when the DJ drops their favorite song, it's going to take a lot more than Party Rock to stop an entire army of post-apocalyptic robots to lay down their weapons and kick up their heels as if their Cylon brains had suddenly been reprogrammed. We love you, David & Goliath but we ain't buyin' it.

And where do you go from here? Will the former neighborhood tough guys turned happy-go-lucky dance stars suddenly crash a My Little Pony party with Kool and the Gang's Celebration?

Of course what do we ad critics know? The general public is going to love this!

by Steve Hall    Aug-30-11   Click to Comment   
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Creative Commentary   



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