The Hamsters travel back in time for Kia's New Soul campaign

To promote the new 2013 Kia Soul, those music-loving hamsters return in the third of the brand’s chart-topping series of viral videos.

‘Bringing Down the House’ is set to the Axwell Radio Edit of ‘In My Mind’, by Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl featuring Georgi Kay, and takes the 21st century’s dance music hamsters back in time to a stuffy 18th century opera house.

The hamsters make their entrance in a 2013 Kia Soul (of course), which rises from the stage floor, then proceed to take over the opera performance with their display of high-energy dance moves, a laser light show and an epic stage dive that has the wig-wearing patrons on their feet and learning how to really party.

‘Bringing Down the House’ will begin appearing on more than 18,000 movie screens across North America from tomorrow, followed by its television debut during the MTV Video Music Awards on September 6th.

It’s the third in a series of hip hamster commercials for the Kia Soul which began with ‘A New Way to Roll’ in 2010 (set to ‘The Choice Is Yours’ by Black Sheep) and was followed by ‘Share Some Soul’ in 2011 (based on LMFAO’s ‘Party Rock Anthem’).

With more than 20 million views on YouTube and 2 million social shares, 2011’s “Share Some Soul” is one of the all-time most-popular automotive ads and the hamsters have been named the “Automotive Ad of the Year” for two straight years by Nielsen Automotive.

Kia carefully follow the trends in popular music to remain on the cutting edge and connect with their Gen-Y audience, which in the North America usually means youthful, high-energy dance music.

From hip-hop to electro and dance, the hamsters have proven their versatility and widespread appeal to audiences around the world. Will the party keep running for Kia? Or is the Soul losing its roll?

“People seem to love the hamsters,” Kia’s U.S. marketing boss, Michael Sprague said when interviewed by USA Today’s Drive On. But adds, he tries to be careful about not overexposing them, including using them on other models in their range.

“We’re being careful to make sure we don’t do too much with the hamsters,” he says.

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