“ROBO DOG” STAR OF KIA AMERICA’S SUPER BOWL SPOT IS NOW FEATURED IN AN NFT COLLECTION TO HELP ANIMALS IN NEED FIND FOREVER HOMES

Kia America has announced its first NFT series based on the robotic dog “Robo Dog”, the star of Kia’s Super Bowl commercial. In partnership with NFT platform Sweet and the Petfinder Foundation, the series is available in three unique and accessible collections. 90 percent of all sales proceeds will benefit the Petfinder Foundation, which helps animals in need find new homes. In addition, a 10 percent royalty is written into the Smart Contract on the blockchain, so every time a Robo Dog NFT from the series is resold on a participating secondary market, the Petfinder Foundation again benefits from funding more animal adoptions. The Robo Dog NFT series is minted on the Tezos blockchain and consists of the following elements:

• From 11 February, 10,000 Robo Dog Adoption Passport NFTs will be made available free of charge. Individuals who request one of this Robo Dog Adoption Passes will receive pre-sale access to one of the 10,000 generative Robo Dog NFTs that Kia America will offer for sale on 18 February.
• On 13 February, coinciding with the big game, six unique art-inspired Robo Dog NFTs will be offered at a starting bid of $299, the original MSRP of the robot dog before it escaped from the electronics market. The auctions will run until 18 February at 12pm ET.
• On February 18, coinciding with NBA All-Star weekend, Kia will offer 10,000 generative Robo Dog NFTs for sale on sweet.io. Individuals who have a Robo Dog Adoption Pass NFT will receive early access at 3 p.m. ET to purchase one of these unique Robo Dog NFTs for $20.22. The public sale begins at 7 pm ET for those who do not have an adoption certificate and would like to adopt a Robo Dog NFT themselves.

10,000 Robo Dog NFTs will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis just before the Big Game weekend. An auction of six rare Robo Dog NFTs will begin at 12pm ET, just before the game, on Sunday.

“Many of us are aware of the increase in pet adoptions as a result of the pandemic,” said Russell Wager, vice president, marketing, Kia America. “Although tens of thousands of animals have found their forever homes, pet surrenders to shelters are increasing as people return to work and there are many pets whose stories deserve to end as happily as Robo Dog’s did in our Super Bowl spot.”

The final collection of this NFT series will open on February 18, right at the start of NBA All-Star weekend in Cleveland. At that time, 10,000 generative Robo Dog NFTs will be available for purchase on sweet.io. Kia and Sweet designed this special collection to create scarcity through a list of rarity traits that mimic the traits people use as a philter to find the best dog for adoption on Petfinder.com. Each generative Robo Dog NFT is pre-programmed with characteristics such as breed, age, size, sex, coat length, and color, as older and larger dogs tend to be slightly less desirable in the real world. Robo Dog NFTs programmed with traits such as “older” or “large” may become even scarcer and more desirable.

“After sports, the automotive Marketing space is an obvious area where NFTs can thrive and engage people. There is a long history of people loving their car brands and loving their cars. And what I love about the Kia Robo Dog NFT series is how well it ties into our mission here at Sweet and that is: to empower brands like Kia to deploy NFTs to broader consumer bases through engaging experiences,” said Tom Mizzone, CEO of Sweet. “As a dog owner myself, I can’t think of anything more engaging than the chance to have a Robo Dog of my own as a digital collectible and the opportunity to use NFT technology to help pets find loving homes.”