Hyundai has rummaged through its warehouse, past the rack of fluro tops and just behind a box of cassette mixed tapes, to find a bunch of 1980s classics to feature in a new Netflix movie called Seoul Vibe.
Set during the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the movie features a first-generation Grandeur (known as Azera in Korea), Pony pickup, Porter light truck, and a variety of sedans: Sonata, Stellar, and Cortina.
Hyundai Motor also provided a key shooting location at Hyundai Wonhyoro Service Center. The Korean cast includes Ah-in Yoo, Kyung-pyo Go, Kyoo-hyung Lee, Ju-hyun Park, Seong-wu Ong and Jung-se Oh.
The plot (such as it is) follows a team of performance drivers investigating a slush fund operation - all set in a time when Dominic Toretto and The Fast and the Furious team were still in their school uniforms. Those Adidas Ultrastars really dance on the pedals.
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There are no free car chases, of course. Hyundai is using the movie as a base for promotion of its forthcoming Grandeur luxury sedan, due for launch at the end of the year. A white first-generation Grandeur is featured in the movie, "symbolising its pioneering status as Korea’s flagship premium model", says the company.
Hyundai is teasing the silhouette of the all-new Grandeur in photographs as the movie launches, through a digital advertisement in a spin-off of Seoul Vibe, using the story and cast of the movie. The digital advertisement spotlights the evolution of Grandeur and will feature on YouTube and Instagram.
Hyundai Motor has also recreated the garage shown in the film on Zepeto, the "global metaverse platform", to provide a virtual experience space where visitors can assemble and drive the vehicles featured in the movie. Plus, users will be able to meet Yoon-hee (Ju-hyun Park), a character in the movie, as an NPC (non-player character), and join a vlog event, using the first-generation Grandeur.
So yes, Seoul Vibe is basically just a huge advertisement for Hyundai. But for skids in a Pony pickup with a Grandeur engine, we'll take it. The movie is available to stream now.
