(June 11, 2011) IRVINE, Calif. — Kia Motors' rapping and dancing hamsters earned the company one of the most prestigious advertising awards this week when the "This or That" campaign for the brand's funky Soul urban passenger vehicle received the Gold Effie award in the "David v. Goliath" category at the 2011 North American Effie Awards ceremony in New York.

The annual Effie Awards (short for effective) presented by Effie Worldwide, Inc., highlights the most effective marketing communications efforts in the U.S. each year, and the "David v. Goliath" category recognizes smaller, new or emerging brands that challenge category leaders.

The Kia Soul marketing initiative earned a Silver Effie in 2010.

Together, the Soul's popular "This or That" and the original "A New Way To Roll" campaigns contributed to significant increases in consumer awareness, perception and consideration of the Kia brand, and led to record sales of the urban passenger vehicle, Kia officials have said

The second chapter in the story of Kia's music-loving hamsters played out in the "This or That" campaign, using engaging music and the ever-popular hamsters to poke fun at boring, uninspired vehicles in the category through various multi-platform engagements, including: TV spots, print and billboard ads, video games, a dedicated website with downloadable music tracks and a traveling music festival featuring free concerts. 

In the 60-second "This or That" spot, hip hop hamsters cruise through city streets, cleverly comparing "This" — the funky and uniquely styled Alien Green Soul — to "That" — a number of mundane boxy rides — represented by toasters, washing machines and cardboard boxes.  The spot debuted in movie theaters in late-May 2010 as an extension of the first Soul ad featuring the hamsters and later aired on television.

Watch the ad here

In addition to the back-to-back Effie awards, the Soul spots have been named "Automotive Ad of the Year" for two consecutive years by The Nielsen Company.