Hyundai’s TV ad for this year’s Super Bowl stars four Boston celebrities who marvel at the handy new Remote Smart Parking Assist feature on the 2020 Hyundai Sonata.
Titled “Smaht Pahk,” the minute-long commercial brings together actors John Krasinski and Chris Evans, “Saturday Night Live” comedian Rachel Dratch, and Boston Red Sox icon David “Big Papi” Ortiz — all speaking in heightened R-dropping Boston accents.
As the ad opens, Dratch and Evans stand near a seriously tight parking space on a narrow Boston street and express their doubts that any driver can maneuver into it. To their amazement, Krasinski pulls up in a 2020 Hyundai Sonata, gets out, and uses its new automated parking technology to remotely back into the spot.
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Krasinski notes all the Boston locations — Dorchester, Foxborough, The Garden, and so on — where he’s successfully parked his Sonata. Then, Ortiz gets in on the conversation, opening the window of the apartment above them to pronounce the Sonata “wicked smaht.”
“This is a ghost cah,” Dratch concludes.
“Using the Boston accent as our creative hook was something that quickly became a favorite during the creative development process,” said Angela Zepeda, Hyundai Motor America’s chief marketing officer. “Remote Smart Parking Assist was difficult to say and remember, but a truncated ‘Smaht Pahk’ caught on when one of our creatives said it in a Boston accent. We thought it was a fun, charming, and memorable way to tell people about this incredible new technology using one of America’s most recognized and beloved regional accents.”
The Hyundai Sonata was completely redesigned for 2020 with an array of new technologies — including the Remote Smart Parking Assist feature. This class-exclusive amenity allows the driver to stand outside the sedan and click the key fob to move it forward or backward and enter or exit a parking spot.
Take a Test Drive: Experience ‘Smaht Pahk’ for yourself in the new Sonata
A longtime editor/writer and recently transplanted Hoosier, Caleb Cook lives in Xenia, Ohio. His favorite activities are reading and listening to music, although he occasionally emerges from the heap of books and vinyl records in his basement to stand blinking in the sunlight. Once fully acclimated to the outside world again, he can be observed hanging out with his wife, attempting a new recipe in the kitchen, attending movies, walking the dog, or wandering into a local brewery to inquire about what’s on tap. See more articles by Caleb.