Kia taps Bo Jackson, Brian Bosworth for nostalgic TV ads

If you want to reach Gen Xers with families, Kia Motors figures there's no better way than to go for touchstones of their past when it comes to football and video games.

To advertise the latest Sorento SUV, Kia is bringing back two famous names from the NFL, Bo Jackson and Brian Bosworth, and placing them in a video game of the era.

In the TV spots, the Sorento becomes part of the Tecmo Bowl, an arcade game from the 1980s originally created by a Japanese company. In one spot, Jackson runs off the field, jumps in a Sorento and comes pounding back, scoring a touchdown. In the other, he avoids running down Bosworth and gives him a lift. If anything, the two spots from ad agency David&Goliath underscore how far sports-themed video games have come, from their absolutely rudimentary start with games like Tecmo to the incredible realism of today.

The ads are meant to play up the safety technology packed into the Sorento, such as collision avoidance, just as the NFL football season gets underway.