Staring might be rude, but when a parked car piques our curiosity we often indulge in voyeurism at the risk of being caught red-faced by its owner. This is the insight employed in Kia Canada’s bilingual ‘Peer into a Soul’ campaign, promoting its new model, the Soul.

Developed by Toronto-based Publicis Canada, the effort, targeting a hip young demo, launched with three unbranded 15-second TV executions teasing to peerintoasoul.ca and jemevoisdanslasoul.ca. The teasers featured unsettling close-ups of people staring straight into the camera.

Three 30-second ads, launched on Feb. 9, reveal that the characters are peering into the window of a Kia Soul. Each spot plays off a film genre, from slasher to buddy flicks. The goal, says Publicis CD and campaign co-creator Pat Pirisi, was to provoke viral interest and set Kia apart from its competitors.

‘We’re challenging the archetypal notion of what a car ad should be,’ explains Pirisi. ‘These ads really allow the viewer to participate in the storytelling.’

Kia’s path-less-taken effort includes leveraging 24, linking the teaser ads to the TV show content on mobile phones. On air, 24 viewers are challenged to enter a spy-themed video game at winyoursoul.ca, with a chance to capture their own Soul.

Print ads, dealership POS and special events are also woven into the campaign. Contest-themed OOH, online, radio and TV ads in Quebec will lead up to a Soul giveaway during a Britney Spears concert at the Bell Centre in Montreal on March 20.

The creds:

advertiser: Kia Canada

agency: Publicis, Toronto

ECD: Duncan Bruce

ACD/AD: Gary Holme

CD/writer: Pat Pirisi

producer: Dale Harrison

VP/brand director: Tony Ciccia

account supervisor: Dan Clark

director: Mark Gilbert

prodco: Untitled Films, Toronto

executive producer: Peter Davis

line producer: Sean Cooley

DOP: Robert Yeoman

production designer: Stephen Sumney

AD: Gus Black

editorial: Mick Griffin, Rooster Post Production, Toronto

producer: Melissa Kahn

music and sound design: RMW, Toronto

composers: Guido Luciani, Mark Rajakovic

sound designer: Paul Sealy

RMW music producer: Ted Rosnick