Hoo approved this? Nova Scotia bird lovers object to owl-chasing in Kia Sorento commercial

Kudos to the brand for quickly editing the ad and removing the potentially harmful-to-birds scenes

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If you spot a snowy owl while you’re out for a cruise in your brand new Kia Sorento, don’t chase it down the highway to try to get a photo. 

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This is the message being shared by Kia Canada, thanks to some unsolicited input from the Nova Scotia Bird Society. The brand recently posted a video advertisement for the 2022 Kia Sorento’s all-wheel-drive capabilities, featuring a pair of photographers giving chase to one of the great white birds in order to get rare photos. 

The original ad shows the Sorento and its drivers pursuing a computer-generated snowy owl down a highway and into a field in the name of wildlife photography. But as pointed out by the president of the Nova Scotia Bird Society, Diane LeBlanc, this type of behaviour is poor birding form and could even result in the harm of the majestic animals. 

“What concerns us is that people would give chase to a snowy owl,” LeBlanc told the CBC . “We don’t want owls or other birds to have to expend energy to get away from humans, because that energy is better used when they need to hunt and rest. We need to take into consideration the bird’s needs, as well as what might be a cool ad.” She added, “We know that it’s a prize to have a picture of a snowy owl. But we also know that getting close to snowy owls, even if they’re resting, can put them in danger of not being able to hunt and also stresses them. Any kind of human contact is alarming for an owl.”

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Currently, there are two ads on Kia’s YouTube channel. A 30-second video that features the photographers capturing pictures of the snowy owl while driving, though they don’t appear to be giving chase. Then, as LeBlanc puts it, “they find two on a branch in another location, which is just incidental contact with the owl.”

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There’s also a shortened version: 

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LeBlanc says that a number of the society’s members reached out to Kia Canada directly after seeing the spot and were pleased with the positive and prompt response. 

“Kia really responded well, they got back to us within a few days, and they adjusted the ad immediately. They removed the parts of the ad that we felt were objectionable,” says LeBlanc.  

Kia Canada also chimed in on the edits, offering its thanks to the birders for notifying them of the error of their ways, and telling the CBC, “It was never our intent to infer or encourage the pursuit of wildlife.”  

The 2022 Kia Sorento is available in Canada from $34,595 to $48,095, with the plug-in-hybrid version starting at $44,995.