Hyundai, an official NFL sponsor, pulled off a technological feat at Super Bowl LI almost as stunning as the New England Patriots historic, come-from-behind victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
The automaker produced a live, 90-second ad in real-time that reunited three deployed soldiers overseas at a U.S. military base in Zagan, Poland with their families back in Houston at the Super Bowl.
The technological wizardry used to produce the ad looked like a kind of virtual reality, but it was not virtual reality, a Hyundai official said.
Produced by acclaimed director Peter Bergen of “Patriots Day” and “Deepwater Horizon,” the ad was shot, edited and produced during the Super Bowl.
“Fully immersive, 360-degree live streaming pods were custom built to give the soldiers an in-stadium experience. But they weren’t just experiencing the game from the stands. They were surrounded by family in a (Hyundai’s) Super Bowl LI box suite,” the automaker said in an explanation of the commercial on its website.
Producers used three “high-tech teddy bears” that were outfitted with 360-degree cameras and placed in sites in the box suite. The cameras fed the livestream to the soldiers back in Poland, while a screen in the stadium suite showed a livestream of the soldier to their families.
The three soldiers in Poland and their families in the stadium suites felt like they were watching the game together.
"Super Bowl is the biggest day in advertising and following our incredibly successful 2016, we wanted to push the creativity and storytelling even further," Hyundai Motors America CMO Dean Evans said.
Most would agree that did indeed happen in this first-of-its-kind live Super Bowl commercial.
The ad aired after the game ended in the first commercial break before the Lombardi Trophy presentation.
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