OREANDA-NEWS. October 27, 2015. NBA All-Star Blake Griffin is back in a series of four new television commercials for Kia’s best-selling Optima midsize sedan, and he’s bringing his signature brand of satirical comedy with him. In the campaign, everyday people get in the zone for the first time while experiencing the next-level performance and sophistication of the all-new 2016 Optima – the Official Vehicle of the NBA – and find an eternally calm Griffin reading the newspaper, playing chess, making the ultimate peanut butter and jelly sandwich or acting as a weather forecaster in the midst of an impressive basketball performance. The multiplatform campaign, which includes television, digital and social media elements, debuts during Kia NBA Tip-Off 2015.

“Blake Griffin is a powerful force both on and off the court, and as a brand ambassador, he has helped raise Kia’s profile during our rapid transformation over the last few years,” said Tim Chaney, vice president of marketing communications, KMA. “Our partnership with Blake has played a significant role in Kia becoming the most recognized automotive brand among basketball fans across the country, and in this new campaign he’s back and better than ever with his distinctive deadpan humor.”

Created by David&Goliath, Kia’s advertising agency of record, the Griffin spots can be viewed on cable and network NBA programming and on all of Kia’s social and digital platforms, including YouTube.com/Kia and Kia.com. 

Griffin Advertising Background

Blake Griffin’s comedic talents and deadpan delivery have made a connection with Optima buyers and basketball fans over several NBA seasons.  Kia’s partnership with Griffin was born in 2011 following his famous dunk over an Optima to win the Slam Dunk contest.  As a Kia brand ambassador, Griffin has helped grow the brand’s presence in both basketball and pop culture through national marketing campaigns, commercials and social media.  During the 2012-13 NBA season, Kia’s ad campaign featured Griffin offering helpful suggestions to younger versions of himself as Kia’s available UVO voice-activated infotainment system1 took his futuristic Optima on a time-traveling musical journey through the mid-1990s and early 2000s.  In the 2013-14 NBA season, Griffin and funnyman Jack McBrayer became a crime-fighting dynamic duo in “The Griffin Force,” trying to save the world one Kia Optima at a time. For the 2014-15 NBA season, Griffin was cast in the lead role for several big-budget action movies set in the Old West, ancient Rome and an aircraft carrier, each time replacing his scripted mode of transportation – be it horse, chariot or fighter jet – with a Kia Optima.

About the 2016 Kia Optima

The all-new 2016 Optima is passionately designed and obsessively crafted with European styling, a refined premium interior and significant ride and handling improvements. Kia’s best-selling nameplate challenges the midsize sedan segment with three engine choices, including a new 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that’s mated to a seven-speed Dual Clutch Transmission (DCT), making the Optima more confident on the road than ever before. The roomier, more luxurious cabin features an impressive level of craftsmanship that comes standard across five trim levels. The all-new Optima is built at Kia’s plant in West Point, Georgia.*

About Kia Motors America
Kia Motors America (KMA) is the marketing and distribution arm of Kia Motors Corporation based in Seoul, South Korea.  KMA proudly serves as the "Official Automotive Partner" of the NBA and LPGA and set an all-time annual sales record in 2014, surpassing the 500,000 unit mark for the third consecutive year. KMA offers a complete line of vehicles, including the rear-drive K900** flagship sedan, Cadenza premium sedan, Sorento CUV, Soul urban passenger vehicle, Soul Electric Vehicle***, Sportage compact CUV, Optima midsize sedan, Optima Hybrid, the Forte compact sedan, Forte5 and Forte Koup, Rio and Rio 5-door subcompacts and the Sedona midsize multi-purpose vehicle, through a network of more than 765 dealers across the United States.  Kia’s U.S. manufacturing plant in West Point, Georgia, builds the Optima* and Sorento* and is responsible for the creation of more than 15,000 plant and supplier jobs.

Information about KMA and its full vehicle line-up is available at www.kia.com. For media information, including photography, visit www.kiamedia.com.  To receive custom email notifications for press releases the moment they are published, subscribe at www.kiamedia.com/us/en/newsalert.

* The Sorento and Optima GDI (EX, SX & Limited and certain LX Trims only) are assembled in the United States from U.S. and globally sourced parts.

1 Warning: Driving while distracted can result in a loss of vehicle control that may lead to an accident, severe personal injury and death. Use of any equipment which takes the driver’s focus away from the safe operation of a vehicle should never be used during vehicle operation.

** 2015 K900 V8 available in select trims and in select markets with limited availability.

*** Soul EV in select markets with limited availability.

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Information posted in press releases on the Kia Media website was accurate at the time of posting but may be superseded by subsequent releases or other information.