Collaboration with hearing-impairment nonprofit Sarangeui Dalpaengi

1,000 reflective keyrings made — 500 for sale, 500 donated

Campaign aims to spread safety message and raise disability awareness

Rrrr-themed in-vehicle display launched on Bluelink Store

Officials pose for a photo at the MOU signing ceremony for the "Pedestrian Safety Campaign with Rrrr," held at Hyundai Motor's Gangnam office on Tuesday. Third and fourth from left are Kim Jae-hyung, head of Hyundai Motor's domestic media communications team, and Cho Young-un, secretary general of Sarangeui Dalpaengi. [Hyundai Motor]
Officials pose for a photo at the MOU signing ceremony for the "Pedestrian Safety Campaign with Rrrr," held at Hyundai Motor's Gangnam office on Tuesday. Third and fourth from left are Kim Jae-hyung, head of Hyundai Motor's domestic media communications team, and Cho Young-un, secretary general of Sarangeui Dalpaengi. [Hyundai Motor]

A carless slug who works at a car company is now championing pedestrian safety. Hyundai Motor has produced a set of light-reflecting keyrings featuring Rrrr — a character the automaker created to connect with younger audiences — and plans to donate half of them to a nonprofit that supports people with hearing impairments.

Hyundai Motor announced Monday that it is launching the "Pedestrian Safety Campaign with Rrrr" in partnership with Sarangeui Dalpaengi, a nonprofit that supports people with hearing disabilities.

The two sides signed an MOU at Hyundai Motor's Gangnam office on Tuesday to cooperate on raising awareness of hearing disabilities and promoting a culture of pedestrian safety.

Sarangeui Dalpaengi is a nonprofit that provides cochlear implant surgery and hearing aid support for people with hearing impairments, along with social adaptation assistance and programs to improve public awareness of disability.

Rrrr is an SNS-based character Hyundai Motor introduced in 2019 to communicate with younger generations. In 2024, the character was revamped around the concept of "a pedestrian who works at a car company" — a slug who cheerfully navigates daily life on foot despite being employed by an automaker.

The campaign connects that character identity directly to pedestrian safety. It focuses particularly on raising awareness of the risks faced by people with hearing impairments, who cannot rely on vehicle horns or other auditory warning signals while walking.

Hyundai Motor produced 1,000 reflective pedestrian safety keyrings for the campaign. Designed to attach to bags or personal belongings, the keyrings are made from light-reflecting material that bounces back the beams of car headlights, helping drivers spot pedestrians more easily at night or in the rain.

The keyrings are intended for use by the general public as well as people with hearing impairments.

Of the 1,000 units produced, 500 will go on sale through Rrrr's online merchandise shop, while the remaining 500 will be handed over to Sarangeui Dalpaengi for use in pedestrian safety and hearing-disability awareness activities.

Hyundai Motor and Sarangeui Dalpaengi also plan to release content on their official SNS channels explaining how to use the keyrings and detailing the campaign. The aim is to raise awareness of pedestrian safety through an everyday item people can easily incorporate into their lives.

Hyundai Motor Group has continued to develop technology and run campaigns focused on the safety of pedestrians and vulnerable road users.

Hyundai Motor and Kia won a bronze award at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in June for their "Vision Pulse" campaign promoting school bus safety for children. The technology uses ultra-wideband radio waves to detect the location of people and objects around a vehicle and alert drivers to collision risks. The campaign demonstrated the technology using keyring-shaped devices attached to school buses and children's bags.

The Rrrr campaign differs in that it uses light-reflecting material rather than electronic devices, but shares the same underlying goal of drawing public attention to pedestrian safety through everyday objects.

Hyundai Motor also made the Rrrr character available inside vehicles. On Monday, the company launched an Rrrr display theme on Bluelink Store, its in-vehicle digital content service, allowing drivers to apply the character's design to their car's interior screen.

Hyundai Motor has been expanding its lineup of in-vehicle digital content this year. In April, it introduced display themes featuring popular domestic characters including Pororo, Tayo and Zanmang Loopy, using the vehicle's interior screen as a new touchpoint with customers.

"Since the 2024 character renewal, Rrrr has been communicating with younger generations through the world of 'a pedestrian working at a car company,'" a Hyundai Motor official said. "Through this collaboration, we hope to deliver messages of safety and inclusion in a friendly way through Rrrr merchandise and content."


kwater@heraldcorp.com