In Marvel Studio’s Ant-Man and the Wasp movie, inanimate objects — including the Hyundai Veloster — can shrink or grow at will just like Ant-Man. With this superpower at our disposal, we applied this capability to our TV executions, shrinking a Hyundai Veloster down into the “ant universe” and putting it in a bizarre, unexpected situation. Doing so created a dramatic, tension-filled, ultimately humorous scene unlike anything seen in a car commercial. Pulling off the “shrinking” effect in an acceptable “Marvel Universe” way was critical, as we would be acutely judged by a super-critical target audience of diehard comic book fans. Fortunately, our ability to maintain the “logic” of Ant-Man’s superhero power worked. The TV spot was celebrated as a natural extension of the movie. Fans loved it.

An awkward “standoff” between two police officers and a Veloster Turbo driver at a stoplight. Idling side-by-side while the light is red, one of the vehicles begins revving its engine in a taunting manner. Thinking the Veloster driver is challenging them, the police look over at the guy incredulously. He looks back confused. The revving continues. The police grow more agitated. The Veloster driver more flustered. Tension fills the scene. Finally, with a peel of tires and a wisp of burnt rubber, an “ant-sized” version of the Veloster is revealed between the life-sized vehicles. A perfect purple and flame-painted replica of the hero car in the movie — the tiny Veloster squeals into motion, racing across the intersection. It then expands dramatically to life-size, transitioning seamlessly into an actual chase scene from Ant-Man and the Wasp, the partnership between Hyundai and the Marvel Universe defined, the connection clearly made.