Kia Motor Corporation is a South Korean automaker that is gaining traction in the American market. The brand has developed a reputation for owner satisfaction and reliability with its extensive product line.

The three-row Kia Telluride is standing out among the competition, with its only weakness being fuel economy. Edmunds and Motor Trend selected it as the best luxury SUV for 2020. With ample room for passengers, the tech options and design features create a comfortable ride worth checking out.

Where Kia falls short is in its advertising campaigns. A recently released commercial for the Telluride doesn’t effectively promote the vehicle but instead leaves you wondering what is going on in the world.

The Kia Telluride Nightfall commercial makes no sense 

“What’s Been Missing” is a new commercial released to advertise the 2021 Kia Telluride Nightfall edition, which is an incredible vehicle. It’s a shame the commercial doesn’t reflect that.

The ad starts with the all-black Telluride driving down an isolated desert highway. A boy’s hand is visibly turning a dial on the center console as a man says, “Life can throw you a curve.” The SUV accelerates through turns in the road as the man continues, “…send you down an unexpected path…” The music intensifies as the vehicle splashes through a puddle, and the man says, “…but navigating the rocky moments is part of the adventure.” The Telluride then comes to a sudden stop as he says, “to help you discover what’s been missing.” 

A boy then jumps out of the SUV and runs over to an old dog lying in the middle of the road. The boy says, “Bandit, why did you run off?” The whole storyline makes zero sense. For starters, why is a young boy driving a high-end SUV? And, why did he leave the family dog in the middle of the desert? 

Does the commercial imply that if I buy a Kia Telluride, I will be able to navigate off-road terrain to find a dog that I abandoned? There were so many different ways this story could have gone. The beautiful scenery was the perfect location to showcase the Telluride Nightfall Edition’s off-roading capabilities. Instead, Kia blew it and ended up with a nonsensical ad.

Kia is missing the mark in their commercials

This commercial, in particular, questions “What’s Been Missing.” Well, what is missing is the creative storytelling that showcases the Kia products in a relatable way. The World Car Award-winning SUV shows off its off-road abilities but falls short in tying it all together.

This isn’t the first time the Kia advertising team put out a strange commercial. Hamsters dancing to LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” to introduce the 2012 Kia Soul was one for the record books. Dressed in cool clothing, the hip hamsters enter a virtual world of fighting robots and convince them to stop fighting with their dance moves. Although this has nothing to do with the vehicle, the hamsters are pretty cute.

In one of their more recent television spots, the 2021 Kia K5 drives through a dark abandoned warehouse filled with the remains of an old amusement park. As the lights flicker, the driver declares, “Rides made us feel something once. They can do it again.”

Sorry, Kia. All you are making us feel is confused.

It’s time for Kia to fix their newly discovered weakness

Kia Motors also released a new commercial that highlights a soccer team in a meditation session looking for their “inner drive.” They are advertising a Kia vehicle for the European market, but the ad is so far-fetched that this also makes no sense.

It seems that Kia needs to address its newly discovered weakness and focus on finding an ad team that highlights their products in a better light. The Nightfall commercial needs a complete overhaul to reflect the attributes of the new Telluride SUV.