Kia Motors America is ditching the hamsters that starred in several years’ worth of commercials for the Irvine-based carmaker, and has signed a different animal to promote its new family of Soul vehicles.
The automaker last month released a 30-second spot, “The New Species of Soul.”
It showcases three Kia Soul models speeding through bumpy and colorful terrain only to reveal that the cars were driving on a chameleon’s body.
The three models featured in the spot included a red Soul GT-Line, an undercover green Soul X-Line and solar yellow Soul EX Designer.
Spoiler: the lizard eats them at the end.
The campaign is a new take on the expanded Soul lineup popularized by the famous dancing Kia hamsters, and builds on the automaker’s “Give It Everything” tagline.
The company has stated that the hamsters aren’t necessarily going the way of the Taco Bell Chihuahua, and could return.
The Soul is Kia’s most popular car brand so far this year, with nearly 36,000 sales through April, up about 9% year-over-year. They start around $20,000.
Kia has sold about 188,000 vehicles through April, up 6%.
