The internet abounds in information about the environment: articles, videos, and scientific research bring us details on climate change, deforestation, plastic pollution, floods, wildfires, and much more. Scientists, activists, and journalists head to the front lines of such extreme events, sometimes putting themselves in danger only to report the facts and make the audience aware of what’s happening and the urgent actions we need to take in order to help nature take a breath of fresh air. Despite knowing what must be done, progress is still slow.
But what if the covered stories came directly from the most affected species? Imagine ocean creatures pleading for help because plastics suffocate them. Or wild animals reporting on illegal poaching. Or trees writing articles about forests that are disappearing. Would humanity listen then? Hyundai Motor Company gives it a shot and lets the trees do the talking on sustainability and the urgent action that needs to be taken for forest conservation and climate change.
In an AI-driven campaign that has been active since March 21 but has recently gained global attention thanks to the awards it scooped at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the automaker embarked on a journey to bring humans closer to nature by giving trees a voice. Developed with the FCB New York agency, the “Tree Correspondents” initiative marks two important milestones for the company: IONIQ Forest’s 10th anniversary and 1 million trees planted globally.
Launched in 2019 to celebrate the debut of the Hyundai IONIQ Electric, the IONIQ Forest project was born to support global reforestation efforts. Currently, the project is carried out in 13 countries around the world: the U.S., Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Vietnam, India, Korea, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the Czech Republic, Türkiye, the Philippines, and China.
“Hyundai’s pursuit of innovation goes beyond mobility into how we connect with the world around us,” said Sungwon Jee, Senior Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer of Hyundai Motor Company. “With Tree Correspondents, we aimed to highlight our decade-long commitment to CSR under our brand vision ‘Progress for Humanity’ by integrating technology with storytelling and thus creating a deeper sense of engagement for the audience.”
Trees across three countries — the Czech Republic, Brazil, and Korea — were equipped with special monitoring and measurement devices that track real-time biological and ecological data. Combined with scientific papers and weather intelligence from The Weather Company, the data was processed via a custom large language model (LLM). Using this technology, the brand then translated nature’s complex data into human language, thus giving trees a voice to speak for themselves.
A microsite further supports the campaign, inviting users to read articles “written” by the trees. Covering stories on the impact of climate change, forest loss, and the deterioration of forest ecosystems, the trees finally have a chance to narrate their experiences in the conditions of rising temperatures, soil moisture changes, or seasonal shifts. Complementing the digital platforms is a short video that offers a close look at the initiative’s behind-the-scenes, current conditions of the IONIQ forests, and interviews with experts.
So, “Now that [they] can speak, will you listen?”
CREDITS
Brand: Hyundai Motor Company
Agency: FCB New York
