The idea was to give our troops a better Super Bowl experience through the use of VR-like technology. We teamed up with several tech companies and director Peter Berg to bring the idea to life. Hyundai threw a Super Bowl party for our troops overseas in Poland. Three soldiers were selected and led to a room away from the party. In another room, we constructed three large pods. Each of the soldiers entered their own pod and sat in a chair in the middle of it. Once the pod illuminated, they discovered they were virtually at the Super Bowl in real time. However, the big surprise was when they realized their families were sitting next to them virtually. We filmed, edited, mixed and finished the 90-second piece during the game and aired it immediately following Super Bowl 51.

The campaign was launched two weeks prior to the Super Bowl with two teaser ads featuring past Super Bowl legends describing what it takes to work as a team and highlighting the line, “This year, some of the better moments of the Super Bowl won’t happen on the field.” Hyundai put out a press release touting that we would be using a new technology to give the troops overseas a better Super Bowl experience. However, the secret that the soldiers’ families would be at the game to surprise them was not mentioned. The ad was shot in the first quarter. It was then edited, mixed and approved during the 2nd and 3rd quarter so it could air immediately following the game. The ad was covered by several media outlets including, Good Morning America. The following morning, an entire segment to Hyundai’s world’s-first ad was covered.

The ad was viewed 41 million times in 5 days. Hyundai ranked 1st in overall positive sentiment amongst all OEM without showing any car or being an in-game spot. Brand sentiment grew 50%. Social media mentions rose 847% and there were over 90 million PR impressions. #1 most attention-grabbing spot, #1 most effective spot, #1 in ad effectiveness and Hyundai ranked #1 on Ad Age’s viral video chart. Total social engagement rose 339% over previous year. According to Adweek, it was the most effective and most emotional ad of the Super Bowl. The ad views per day, 5.3 million, was 573% higher than other automakers and 191% higher than other brands. Hyundai had the best February sales in their history.