Kia K900 in The Matrix
A good advertisement effectively
informs about a product, revealing its distinctive
qualities and features with a powerful hook that deftly sways the minds of consumers.
In a Super Bowl commercial, Kia presented their new car K900. During the course
of a minute, KIA succeeds in conveying the message that K900 is truly a
luxurious car by using a parody of The Matrix.
Along with this amusing idea, the ad skillfully employs the modes of persuasion
– logos, pathos, and ethos. In combination, they produce powerful effects that
contribute to the making of an effective advertisement with a persuasive
argument.
Kia borrows the logic from the
movie, The Matrix, in a very humorous
way. The logic is related to Plato’s Theory
of Forms, asserting that what humans perceive is not real, but actually blinds
them from knowing the truth. A couple meets an unexpected valet, Morpheus, played
by Lawrence Fishburne. He says, “The world of luxury has been pulled over your
eyes to blind you from the truth.” He offers the choice between two keys. The blue
stands for the comfortable compliance of illusory luxury, and the red leads to
the confrontation of truth that may completely change one’s beliefs about
luxury. The couple takes the red key and experiences the comfort and pleasure
of driving the all-new K900 with elegant interiors and superior sound system. Kia,
known as an economical car company, makes a strong statement that it can also
produce luxury models that provide the highest value for money. The ad
confidently claims K900 to be even superior to traditional luxury brands by
displacing them into the symbolic space of the Matrix.
As pathos, the
commercial makes many emotional appeals that powerfully sway the audience. The
use of the Matrix theme implies that the company is targeting people in their 20s
to 40s within the upper middle class stratum who can understand the underlying logic
from being well-versed in popular cultural references. The most notable appeal
to emotion is the sense of humor, which plays a large role in the overall ad. Wearing
sunglasses and showing his teeth through his widely opened mouth, Morpheus sings
an opera song as if he is the audio system of the car, which breaks the serious
ambience. This image of Morpheus, which is drastically different from that in
the movie, keeps the viewers entertained and engaged.
In terms of ethos, the quality of
true luxury stems from the use of the character, Morpheus. In the movie,
Morpheus is depicted as “the bearer of truth” and refuses to comply with the
illusive world controlled by machines. When he makes his argument, he does it
with a pre-established authority which he acquired from his heroic role in The Matrix. He pursues the truth of
luxury cars while he speaks to the couple using his signature deep voice, and sporting
the black mirrored sunglasses and long leather suit in a serious manner. Moreover,
the sophisticated couple depicted as “virtuous nobles” making an unconventional
choice also appeals to the audience in the mode of ethos.
The ad, “The Truth” by Kia, successfully
incorporates the potent cultural reference, The
Matrix, and the theme complements the logos, pathos, and the ethos that
serve as compelling strategies to persuade the audience. To conclude, the idea
of an “iconoclast” car touches on the emotions of hip middle-class consumers in
connection to the potent cultural reference, The Matrix. With great sense of humor, Kia succeeds in changing its
brand awareness from a cheap car manufacturer to an all-encompassing brand of
the future with luxury offerings.
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