Hyundai released a teaser of its upcoming Super Bowl ad, with a humorous Boston-centric focus that will kick off a national marketing campaign for the new-generation 2020 Sonata.
In the teaser clip, former “Saturday Night Live” regular Rachel Dratch, a Boston-area native, coaches Red Sox legend David Ortiz on the finer points of the local accent for the purposes of making the ad. After a couple attempts by Ortiz to say “There’s a wicked ripper by the harbor” (a waterfront party), Dratch concludes that Ortiz’s final version is about as good as its going to get.
Hyundai said the full 60-second spot will also feature actor Chris Evans (of Marvel Comics movie fame) and John Krasinski (from “The Office”), both of whom are Boston natives. The world premiere of the final ad will debut during the CBS special “Super Bowl Greatest Commercials 2020” on Jan. 27 — the Monday before this year’s game — on CBS, along with a behind-the-scenes segment on making the spot. The teaser clip released Monday appears to be from the “making of” segment.
Barney Goldberg, executive creative director of Hyundai ad agency Innocean USA, said: “This particular idea focuses on the iconic Boston accent. It was important to us to make sure everything was authentic. 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. I think we really captured the feel of the city as well as highlighting a great feature on the new Sonata.”
Super Bowl ads have become something of a Hyundai tradition. Last year’s ad, “The Elevator” featuring actor Jason Bateman, was considered a comedic hit for satirizing the traditional car-buying experience. On a more emotional note, the 2018 spot “Hope Detector” highlighted the brand’s contributions to fighting pediatric cancer.