Hyundai Motor Company has introduced a global marketing campaign featuring Atlas, the humanoid robot developed by Boston Dynamics, as part of its promotional activity ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026. The campaign, titled “School of Football,” is linked to Hyundai’s “Next Starts Now” platform for the tournament and presents football as a setting for demonstrating robotics through movement, learning and human interaction.
The campaign is structured as a five-episode social film series following Atlas as it observes football culture, learns basic skills and progresses toward more complex movements. According to the company, the sequence includes fan observation, footwork, passing, shooting and the execution of a move called the “Ghost Rabona.” Hyundai said the robot performed the movements without computer-generated imagery.
Hyundai said the campaign is intended to show the use of physical artificial intelligence in dynamic environments. The company described the “Ghost Rabona” as requiring timing, balance and coordinated motion, with Atlas trained using human football movement data, physics-based simulation and reinforcement learning.
Sungwon Jee, executive vice president and head of global marketing at Hyundai Motor Company, said the campaign uses football “to present the next chapter of robotics in an engaging, intuitive, and human-centered way.” He said Atlas’s role reflects Hyundai’s view that robotics can expand future possibilities through human passion, creativity and expression.
Hyundai also plans to release behind-the-scenes content about the collaboration with Boston Dynamics, focusing on the development and training behind Atlas’s movements. The company said it plans to train Atlas at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America’s Robot Metaplant Application Center in Savannah, Georgia, with the goal of deploying humanoid robots in industrial environments to support human-robot collaboration.
The campaign also includes a reaction video featuring Hyundai global brand ambassador Son Heung-min, extending the football theme across the company’s social media activity. Hyundai, founded in 1967, operates in more than 200 countries and has positioned robotics, electric vehicles, hydrogen fuel cell technology and advanced mobility as part of its broader business strategy.
