Coquí Alarmed.
After a tourist asked online how to silence Puerto Rico's coquí frog, Hyundai Puerto Rico replaced the lock sound on Hyundai rental cars with the frog's call.
- Brand
- Hyundai Puerto Rico
- Agency
- BBDO Puerto Rico
- Market
- Puerto Rico
- Region
- Global
- Year
- 2026
The challenge
A tourist's Reddit post asking how to 'silence' the coquí, the island's native frog, went viral and Puerto Ricans pushed back: 'For locals, the coquí isn't noise. It's identity,' as the entry put it (Ads of the World). Hyundai dates the moment to 2025 and says three of the 14 coquí species are at risk of extinction.
The idea
Hyundai Puerto Rico and BBDO Puerto Rico 'replaced the factory lock and unlock alarm sound of Hyundai rental cars with the real call of the coquí across AVIS, Enterprise and Charlie Car Rental locations', so visitors heard the frog every time they locked or unlocked their car. The entry also presented the call as helping the frogs find mates. In July 2026 a leading coquí researcher disputed that conservation claim, and Cannes Lions reviewed the entry and said it met its eligibility criteria and integrity standards (Campaign Asia; Nick Asbury).
Results
- Customers began asking for the coquí sound on their own cars too, according to Hyundai
Case study source: Hyundai Motor Group Source ↗
Awards
- Cannes Lions 2026Audio & Radio LionsGrand Prix
- Cresta Awards 2026Audio – Innovative use of sound/audioGold
Credits
- Production
- Macarena
- Post-production
- Mara Films
- Rental partners
- AVIS, Enterprise and Charlie Car Rental
