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Kia Soul Hamsters get buff with Lady Gaga

Kia has released a new commercial for the Soul -- featuring the same digital hamsters that have become synonymous with the Soul brand. But what's really interesting is that the Kia Soul commercial is backed by “Applause”, a brand new single from pop star Lady Gaga -- a single that was released just two weeks ago, and might've been released even later if it hadn't leaked to the internet ahead of schedule.

That suggests that either (a) Kia's production team picked up the single very late in the game, after its release, or (b) they've been working with Lady Gaga all along and rushed the clip onto the airwaves to coincide with the song's debut. Both of those scenarios seems weird for a number of reasons, but most importantly:

1. Major music artists are usually reluctant to place their music in advertisements. So we haven't really heard Lady Gaga's music in commercials. Does this mean the pop star's catalogue is open for business?

2. In previous ads for the Soul, Kia used tunes by LMFAO and Black Sheep, which are very bro-friendly. Lady Gaga? Not so much. Is this a shift in marketing strategy? Is Kia's marketing team targeting Little Monsters now? Or is it just a coincidence?

www.thecarconnection.com

 

Richard Read
Contributing Journalist
Richard Reed is a former CarsGuide contributor. He is currently a journalist with The Car Connection.
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