In popular folklore, the sandman visits us each and every night, sprinkling magic sand on our eyes to ensure a smooth trip to dreamland. Criminal trespass overtones aside, it stands to reason that sprinkling too much sand on a sleeping person could have unintended consequences.
In the case of Kia’s latest amusing and over-the-top big game ad, those consequences include supermodel Adriana Lima waving a checkered flag, 1980s hair band (and new Vegas regulars) Mötley Crüe performing live, pro bull rider Judd Lefew wrangling a giant rhino and a lumberjack sawing into the world’s largest hero sandwich.
Those certainly wouldn’t be our innermost desires, nor would we choose the otherwise excellent Kia Optima for turning hot laps on a racetrack. Throw a bucket of magic sand on our head, and you’ll likely get images of Sabine Schmitz, a BMW M3 CSL and the Nürburgring Nordschleife, with perhaps some catered barbeque.
That’s probably why we don’t write dream-sequence commercials for major advertisers. Still, things work out well for the characters in Kia’s ad, and we’ll admit that it made us crack a smile. It may not be the best 2012 Super Bowl commercial we’ve seen to date, but it’s certainly near the top of the list.