Bruce Springsteen stars and narrates a two-minute Super Bowl ad called “The Middle” for Jeep.
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Bruce Springsteen encourages Americans to meet “in the middle” during a Super Bowl LV ad for Jeep – his first ever appearance in a commercial.
The iconic musician, known as “The Boss”, stars and narrates the scenic two-minute ad, which features a lot more Americana and scenery than jeeps. The only vehicles in the ad are a 1980 Jeep CJ-5 and a 1965 Willys Jeep CJ-5. Both models are predecessors of the brand’s current Wrangler SUV.
During “The Middle” Springsteen talks about a chapel in the middle of the country called the US Center Chapel in Lebanon, Kansas. He uses the extremely small chapel as a basis to tell the country to meet ‘here, in the middle’ before the ad ends with ‘To the ReUnited States of America’. That is followed by a website and logos for Jeep, which is celebrating its 80th birthday in 2021.
“It’s no secret … The middle has been hard to reach lately. Between red and blue. Between servant and citizen. Between our freedom and our fear,” says Springsteen. Now, fear has never been the greatest thing we are. And as for freedom, it is not the property of only the lucky ones; it belongs to all of us. ‘
The ad is reminiscent of previous Super Bowl ads from Olivier Francois, chief marketing officer of Jeep’s parent company, Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler). In particular, a 2013 Super Bowl commercial called ‘Farmer’ featuring the voice of iconic radio broadcaster Paul Harvey and another semi-political ad starring Clint Eastwood called ‘It’s Halftime in America’ in 2012. Both were quaint, rural classifieds with few actual vehicles.
“It is definitely intended as a successor,” Francois told CNBC. This is our style. This is our language. This is our approach to Super Bowl. We were really trying to achieve a little bit of what we’ve accomplished in these other commercials, which is really relevance and meaning and something that will really tap into it. moment. “
Timeliness and relevance are pillars of Francois’ advertising style. He is also known for casting A-list celebrities who are not usually associated with advertising in unconventional commercials. Previous Super Bowl ads have included Detroit rapper Eminem, musician Bob Dylan, and a voiceover from Oprah Winfrey. Last year, Francois convinced elusive actor Bill Murray to reprise his role from the 1993 film “Groundhog Day” for a Super Bowl ad.
A company spokeswoman declined to say how much the ad cost, including the fee for Springsteen, who is not known for appearing in advertisements but gave his voice to a campaign commercial for Joe Biden last year.
Fiat Chrysler CMO Olivier Francois (left) with actor Bill Murray during the filming of the 2020 Jeep Super Bowl commercial.
Fiat Chrysler
Francois said Springsteen was heavily involved in creating the ad and worked closely with director Thom Zimny. He wrote and produced the original score for the commercial with another of his frequent collaborators, Ron Aniello.
“Olivier Francois and I have been discussing ideas for the past 10 years and when he showed us the outline for ‘The Middle’ our immediate response was, ‘Let’s do it,’” Springsteen’s manager Jon Landau said in a statement. statement. “Our goal was to do something surprising, relevant, immediate and artful. I believe Bruce did that with ‘The Middle’.”
The ad was created in collaboration with Michigan-based agency Doner. The site was filmed in Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska for five days in late January.