By Wonjeong Jang, The SOUTH Team 2, Cheil Korea
'Hey Dealer Revolutionizes the Used Car Market'
From a successful launch to the groundbreaking "I'm Going to Break Free" campaign that reinvented how we value used car purchases, Hey Dealer has consistently shattered industry conventions and set new standards.
But here's the challenge: Considering the used car buying and selling cycle, consumers engage with this service perhaps once every three years. So how do you make innovation a daily reality rather than a once-in-a-lifetime experience?
That's why this campaign decided to answer not with lengthy explanations, but with a shocking proof by revealing the tangible reality itself.
A technology that ends the "age of estimation," where we could only guess a used car's condition based on paperwork, and opens the "age of verification," where we can see directly with our own eyes: An MRI for used cars.
Introducing Hey Dealer eye which is Korea's first thermal imaging-based vehicle AI diagnostic solution.
※ Source: Hey Dealer official website
The Remarkable Future Ahead We Will See Through 'New Eyes'
We needed to establish a sense of arrival that through Hey Dealer 'eye,' people would experience a fundamentally a new way of seeing used cars.
In the film, rather than listing technical specifications, we preserved Hey Dealer's signature voice while delivering a completely fresh visual shock to convey eye's innovation with genuine impact.
A Sci-Fi-Style Birth: The Eye that Became a Spaceship
First, we infused imagination so eye wouldn't appear as merely a scanning device. Instead, we depicted it as an overwhelming, monumental form like a UFO from a science fiction film.
Through a dramatic sequence of a UFO appearing and absorbing an entire used car, meticulously scanning its interior, and finally implanting that vision into human eye, we gave eye a strange yet powerful birth narrative.
This Isn't a Machine. It's a New Eye.
True to the naming, another critical element was creating an intuitive visual connection between the device and the human eye. The fact that the "eye" takes the form of a human eye and embodies the value of human insight makes it uniquely differentiated from any other scanning device.
This message received full support through multi-channel IMC promotions, from outdoor media to collaborations with creator Kim Eyeball, delightfully and decisively amplifying the character of the "eye" as a true eye.
※ A giant eyeball affixed to a billboard near the Hannam Bridge intersection
Innovation Deserves Innovative Production Methods
This film made particular use of AI creative to express Hey Dealer eye's technological sophistication with precision and intuition. However, we discovered limits in AI's ability to render the intricate details within eye itself, so we compensated with 3D graphics and post-production refinement to achieve subtle realism.
Finally, Adding Two Spoonful of Humanity
Alongside AI creativity and the technological marvel of the eye, we faced one concern: The coldness and distance that technological innovation can convey. So, we deliberately preserved human warmth.
First: the human subject.
We took great care to escape the artificial perfection inherent to AI-generated imagery.
Above all, the realism conveyed by freckles and fine wrinkles, combined with an unconventional styling that creates a mysterious aura making it hard to pinpoint the character’s nationality, resulted in a unique character who feels plausible yet unreal.
Second: the BGM.
We incorporated Louis Armstrong's timeless classic "What a Wonderful World," adding an emotional touch that breathes warm soul into cold machinery. Behind this choice lies deeper meaning which is Hey Dealer's vision for the ideal used car world the brand wants to build.
Particularly clever is how the lyric "I see trees of green, red roses too" naturally blurs 'I' into 'eye'—a subtle easter egg conveying the core message that the eye reveals what was previously invisible. It is a small but intentional nod.
Used Cars: Now, What You See with the Eye is All There Is
Until now, buying a used car meant relying solely on service records and paperwork history. But the arrival of the 'eye' is about to bring remarkable change to the used car ecosystem. A new world is already unfolding before our eyes, one where hidden repair marks become visible, and consumers can purchase used cars with genuine confidence.
We hope you'll look forward to experiencing the transformed used car market you'll discover through Hey Dealer eye.