Publicis Toronto and director Mark Gilbert of Untitled Films invite consumers to "Peer into a Soul" in some self-consciously quirky new spots for the Kia Soul compact SUV. Before rolling out the full ads, the agency aired these short teasers first, and I can see why they drove traffic to the automaker's Web site. The clips are tense, mysterious and heart pounding—they play out like snippets from a Joss Whedon series or hot new genre film. Alas, the full-length commercials are basically one-joke affairs. See all three of them here. In each one, the characters find the Soul so distracting, they drop whatever they happen to be doing at the time, no matter how urgent (like saving a friend who's fallen down a well) or nefarious (transporting a victim to a mob hit or stalking some babes at an isolated cabin). I've got two other complaints. First, it's an ugly car—it's not gonna turn that many heads. Also: Why would I buy an SUV that's a magnet for homicidal maniacs?

—Posted by David Gianatasio