Smaht Pahk 2020 Super Bowl

We launched the all-new 2020 Sonata during Super Bowl with an eye to its advanced style and technology, particularly the new Remote Smart Parking Assist feature. That feature, when shortened to the colloquial “Smart Park,” and delivered in the uniquely “R-challenged” local accent of Boston, Massachusetts, became the instantly memorable “Smaht Pahk.”

For authenticity, we shot in Boston’s South End, with a celebrity cast originally from the Boston area (John Krasinski, Chris Evans, Rachel Dratch) and a supporting cast of well-known Bostonians, including Bob and Arthur Wahlberg, comedian Tony V. and Red Sox legend David “Big Papi” Ortiz. The spot was directed by Boston area native Bryan Buckley and included numerous Boston “easter eggs,” plus the local sports anthem “Dirty Water” by the Standells.

From there, we went full Boston on social media and Hyundai.com, allowing visitors to toggle the Sonata page to “the Boston Way,” and read all copy in thick Bostonian slang. A pre-game teaser on YouTube cast Rachel Dratch as David Ortiz’s regional dialect coach, and a teaser on TikTok showed her increasingly Bostonian side come out as she returned to the city. On game day, we had Boston comedians take over our Twitter and host a “quartertime show” in a style that was uniquely Boston. And kid, the results have been wicked awesome.