Kia Launches First-Ever Customised 'Turtle-Charged' Sportage X-Pro

Sea turtles are critically endangered, with 1 in 1,000 surviving to adulthood. Kia wanted to help. In partnership with Sea Turtle, Inc. the brand and creative agency of record David&Goliath set out to turtle charge their sea turtle conservation efforts and designed the first-ever, fully customised SUV designed to help save them. Enter Kia’s reimagined 2023 'Turtle-Charged' Sportage X-Pro rescue vehicle with everything a sea turtle might need. Complete with ground-breaking innovations including night vision cameras to spot nesting areas at night, egg storage space in the hatch, an algae tray so they can snack after the journey to shore, medical kit, shovels, low-pressure tires for navigating the soft sand and red LED lights, 'Turtle-Charged' is built to not only account for the day-to-day conservation tasks and responsibilities, but also consider the fragile ecosystem in which sea turtle’s nest and hatch their young. 

To illustrate the making of 'Turtle-Charged,' and generate awareness of the specializsed needs of sea turtle conservation, D&G created a series of five digital videos under Kia’s Make More Good campaign that will launch across Kia and Sea Turtle, Inc. social channels. The 60 second hero video showcases the dedication and craftmanship that went into creating the 'turtle-charged' Sportage and its journey to Sea Turtle Inc., located at South Padre Island, Texas, where the car is delivered to excited conservationists to use throughout their daily efforts. 

“It wasn’t enough to simply create a commercial,” said Ben Purcell, chief creative officer, David&Goliath about the making of ‘Turtle-Charged.’ “We needed to go further to help the turtles. The question we kept asking was what would the sea turtles need? And how can we create something truly innovative that would accelerate the conservation efforts of Kia’s non-profit partner, Sea Turtle, Inc. That’s when we came up with modifying the Kia Sportage into a purpose-built vehicle for turtles. When you think about it from the perspective of these creatures, it forces you to be as innovative as possible.”

As part of its Accelerate The Good CSR program, Kia donated the custom 2023 Turtle-Charged Sportage SUV to Sea Turtle, Inc. as their primary vehicle for nesting season. This donation represents the second phase of its partnership with the non-profit, when in April, Kia made a monetary donation designed to help the organisation upgrade their facilities with the development of the new 2,000+ square foot clinic which will be named the 'Kia Clinic Treatment Room' at Sea Turtle Inc. 

“We worked very closely with the experts at Sea Turtle Inc. to modify this Sportage X-Pro SUV to specifically address their needs in terms of performance, convenience, functionality, and operation, especially when driven in areas in which sea turtle nests are present,” said Russell Wager, vice president, marketing, Kia America. “Sea Turtle Inc.’s one-of-a-kind Kia Sportage will help this important organisation complete their tasks more efficiently and enable them to rescue even more endangered sea turtles than the 5,600 they saved last year.”