Hyundai uses Boston theme for celebrity-filled Super Bowl ad

The New England Patriots won’t be in the Super Bowl this year, but the game—like it or not—will still have some Boston flavor thanks to Hyundai. The automaker’s spot features four Boston-linked celebrities: Actors Chris Evans and John Krasinski, comedian Rachel Dratch and Boston Red Sox legend David Ortiz. The theme centers on the notorious Boston accent. A teaser released today (above), called “dialect coach,” shows Dratch teaching Ortiz how to talk like a real Bostonian, without much success. The spot, which plugs the Hyundai Sonata, was directed by Massachusetts native Bryan Buckley. The agency is Innocean. The brand and agency went through “hundreds” of scripts before settling on the final one, Barney Goldberg, Innocean’s executive creative director, said in a statement. “It was important to us to make sure everything was authentic,” he said. “Shooting in Boston instead of a backlot and casting Boston icons really paid off for us in this spot. We even threw in a few local ‘Easter eggs’ for anyone paying close attention.” With Super Bowl ads typically taking months to produce, the Patriots were likely still alive as the idea came to life. The team was eliminated on Jan. 4 in an upset loss to the Tennessee Titans. "It would have been serendipitous for Boston’s home team, the Patriots, to be in the Super Bowl again this year, but the spot is not reliant on any specific team being in the big game," A Hyundai spokesman said. "We think the humor will stand on its own and is something that will be enjoyed on a national level." Hyundai is the first Super Bowl advertiser to release a teaser this year (unless you count Sylvester Stallone leaking Facebook’s ad plans on social media). For more on how Hyundai approaches the Super Bowl, check out Ad Age’s interview with Hyundai Motor America Chief Marketing Officer Angela Zepeda last week at CES. Join Ad Age on Jan. 28 as we bring together some of the top brands, agencies and creatives, including Hyundai and Pop-Tarts, to discuss what it takes to pull off a Super Bowl commercial.

Hyundai uses Boston theme for celebrity-filled Super Bowl ad

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