Kia has just launched the above commercial to drum up interest in its first-ever SuperBowl ad set for this Sunday. The bizare campaign features several strange life-sized children’s toys, that look like they’ve been plucked from an internet meme.

At least one of them is a “real” character – monster Muno from the Nickelodeon show Yo Gabba Gabba. There’s even a sock monkey. Heck, we half expect to see pedo bear.. but that’s really not a marketing move anyone wants to make.

As for the robot character, there’s a chance you’ve seen it before, as Kia paraded it around the Detroit Auto Show a few weeks ago. Now Kia didn’t officially say the robot belonged to them, but among the journalists present it was probably talked about more than any car at the show.

Presumably the SuperBowl ad will help promote the all-new 2011 Kia Sorento. We’ll be sure to be watching in the 3rd quarter to see the ad and what Kia’s crazy characters are up to.

Hyundai is spending some big bucks to kick off 2009 by advertising during the 43rd Superbowl. The commercial will feature a vehicle that Hyundai hopes will transform how people think about the Korean car manufacturer.

Motor Trend magazine was invited along to see the filming of the commercial and they have been kind enough to share their footage with us. Titled “Epic Lap” the video features pro racer Rhys Millen hammering on the Hyundai Genesis Coupe at Road Atlanta. Apparently the shoot required 50 laps of the famous race track at blistering speeds.

Millen, a former rally car racer and current competitor in the Formula D drift series certainly shows off his drifting technique in the rear-drive Genesis Coupe.

If you watch closely you can see that Hyundai employed some high-powered chase cars to keep up with the 310hp V6 Genesis Coupe, including a Porsche Cayenne and a Mitsubishi EVO.

[Source: Motor Trend]