Kia: Hamsters -Share Some Soul

“Hamsters -Share Some Soul” is another great commercial made by David&Goliath for Kia Motors America. Featuring Nathaniel David Rateliff (American musician, singer, and songwriter from Hermann, Missouri), Julie Dolan (plays keytar hamster) and Kurt Quinn (plays banjo hamster), the advert promotes unity, togetherness, and world peace through music. Kia’s most ambitious hamster commercial production to date brings together 30 different music instruments representing more than 20 cultures from around the world.

“Soul Jam” required nearly 3,000 hours of computer generated imagery (CGI) work to bring the hamsters to life. And to ensure authenticity, ethnomusicologists, including Dr. Steven Loza, chair of the UCLA Herb Albert School of Music’s Department of Ethnomusicology, helped curate the globally inspired jam session featuring authentic instruments, dance, and clothing from around the world.

The advert tagline is “The World Needs More Soul.”

The advertising agency David&Goliath explain the commercial: “The world needs more Soul. Every day it seems like more and more negativity fills our screens and people are becoming increasingly divided. But it’s time to change that. It’s time to celebrate our differences and unite. In the latest Kia Soul commercial, we see the Hamsters bring different people and cultures together through the power of music and an epic jam session to put more positivity out in the world.”

“Music is the one true universal language. It transcends borders and boundaries, connecting people on an emotional level because it’s something we can all understand, feel and appreciate,” said Colin Jeffery, chief creative officer, David&Goliath. “In this case, the hamsters use the power of music to unite people from around the world.”

Kia Soul sales have increased every year since hitting the market in 2009 (from 35,000 sales to 146,000 sold in the United States last year)