On Thursday, Hyundai unveiled a special edition of its Kona crossover on the opening day of the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con. Revealed at the Marvel booth, the Kona “Iron Man Edition” features a bevy of design elements that either resemble or tip their hat to the famous comic book icon. All told, it’s probably one of the most comprehensive example of cross promotion in recent history.
How desirable it is will be highly dependent on the person you’re asking, however.
I’m going to acknowledge my prejudice against these types of vehicles upfront. While I’m all for wild paint jobs and tasteless accessories, there’s something about this kind of cross-branding that chaps my posterior. It isn’t just that automobiles are supposed to be purchased by adults (we already know that they’re ravenous consumers of things they recognize from their childhood). It’s the half-hearted effort that’s typically placed behind them.
Brace yourselves. I adore the Plymouth Road Runner and can stomach the association with the lighting-fast cartoon bird that serves as its namesake, since it supposed to be emblematic of the model’s performance. But I hate the Pontiac GTO Judge because the Laugh-In was tacked on and had absolutely nothing to do with the vehicle’s character. It’s a great name for a muscle car, but the association is with a comedy sketch that was ripped off from another comedian.
Nissan produced a storm-trooper inspired Rogue that I despised, but I can at least acknowledge the company made an attempt to place the applicable badges wherever there was room and made them color appropriate. I don’t even know if automobiles exist in the Star Wars universe; they certainly haven’t appeared in any of the films. But the marketing gimmick was at least sufficient to excite franchise fanatics before the population grew bored with it.
But how much does this Kona have to do with Iron Man? Isn’t his armor gold and red?
Quite a bit, actually. The Marvel branding is incredibly prevalent on this crossover. The wheels have the Iron Man mask on center caps and there is some engraving on the D-pillars and inside the headlamps. There are also subtle “Stark Industries” decals on lower fascia and rear door. The most obvious touches are a giant logo on the roof and a red hood finisher with the Marvel logo that’s easily visible to the driver, who is likely to be the only person impressed with someone owning a vehicle themed after a comic book character.
The red paint is also said to be based on the actual color used by Tony Stark (that’s Iron Man) on his armor. We can’t tell you where the matte gray color comes from, though.
On the inside, Tony Stark’s signature adorns the instrument panel alongside a unique Iron Man shift lever knob. There’s also a special head-up display and center stack featuring Iron Man visual graphics, plus a custom seat design. Basically, sitting inside this thing is just like wearing the suit yourself, according to the marketing team.
“Seeing this car come to life is like wish fulfillment for so many of us,” said Mindy Hamilton, Marvel’s Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships & Marketing. “When you grow up reading comics, you dream of seeing that technology and those inventions become reality. We hope that everyone has just as much fun jumping into this one-of-a-kind vehicle as they would putting on the actual Iron Man suit of armor!”
Promotional gurgling noises notwithstanding, Hyundai actually did a pretty good job making the Kona representative of the fictional hero. It assuredly isn’t for someone like me, but if you are a die-hard fan of comic books, I suppose this is the best you could have realistically hoped for.
[Images: Hyundai]
So it runs on alcohol then?
This seems like an attempt to sidestep the Ironman Triathlon people and their trademark on Kona (their championship event). “Ironman Kona” already is a very recognized brand name.
Of course, the legal relationship between Marvel and the triathlon is murky to outsiders. There may or may not be a licensing agreement between them. The USPTO shows that the triathlon people hold the trademark for “Ironman” in a ton of uses.
I smell a sharply worded legal letter coming…
Well, these are the same folks who brought you the comically lame “Walking Dead” Tucson.
http://www.nydailynews.com/autos/hyundai-tucson-walking-dead-special-edition-hits-dealerships-article-1.1837502
smh
Didn’t Ford try this years ago with the ‘Human Torch Edition’ Pinto?
I swear, a few exploding Pintos and no one ever lets you forget. Just as a measure of good faith Ford would like to send you a free set of Firestones for your Explorer, just because they like you… Roll on and over
Word has it Cadillac’s doing a stretched “Mr. Fantastic” edition of the ATS. It’s coming with length.
VW already had the Thing. They could do a DC tie-in and make a ‘Wonder Woman Edition’ invisible car. Of course some safety issues would have to be ironed out.
#whatIronManwouldnotdrive
Pathetic. At least make sense with your bullsh!t, make a Hello Kitty edition.
Guys, let a few geeks have something different. Its a sea of grey out there.
I think it’s cool, and would love to drive one for, say 30 minutes.
You know, Marvel BS aside, I like the paint scheme on this.
I as well.
Tony Stark in a hunday? In a base model, bottom-feeder, subcompact CroSsOVeR?
As fuggin’ if. Pathetic.
Hmm… Dodge has been making the Avenger for a while now. Did they never notice the potential for cross-marketing?
Ford missed the boat, too. They have been building black Panthers for decades.
I see your point, but Avenger has been gone for years.
Bring me, K900 Ironman Edition.
I’m kind of amazed FCA hasn’t tried a Hulk Edition Ram truck. Seems like a natural to me.
I was actually admiring the job Hyundai did on this “special” for it’s stylish subtly until I saw the giant Iron Mask on the roof.
This concept is, in reality, nothing new. My grandfather had a green Hornet.
The original Iron Man armor (not movie, comic) was a gray steel alloy. Second generation was a ‘gold’ anodized steel alloy. Third generation was the crimson/candy red/’gold’ alloy, which has been varied from time to time (an all black ‘stealth’ armor, a red/silver armor, etc.) I asked Audi why they didn’t put out an Iron Man A8 version after the first film came out, got a rather polite, ‘we didn’t think of that’, back..
Big whoop.
Sergio died.