by Matt Konkle
Torque Editor-in-Chief
There probably won’t be any groundhogs this time around on Sunday to connect Jeep advertising with the National Football League’s championship game, but there could be a boss.
Like a big one. A singing one.
Jeep new parent company Stellantis confirmed Wednesday it will run one commercial during the Big Game that will appear sometime in the second half. However, the automaker did not reveal the length of the ad, or any creative details.
According to the Lincoln (Neb.) Journal Star, that creative could be led by Bruce Springsteen.
A chartered jet from New Jersey landed at the Hastings, Neb. Airport early Sunday, the Journal Star reported, and a group left shortly thereafter bound for the Republican River bridge, south of Red Cloud, Neb., where a film crew set up and spent time shooting. That plane then made a short hop to Grand Island, Neb.
The Journal Star reported that Dan Brown, operations manager of Grand Island’s Central Nebraska Regional Airport, said he heard Springsteen’s airplane was at the airport over the weekend, but no one would say if they saw Springsteen himself.
The paper also said various social media accounts in the southwestern Nebraska area posted photos of Springsteen in the Hastings area, and listed him as taking part in a Jeep Super Bowl commercial filming at the bridge.
A local sheriff confirmed that a film crew shot something on the bridge and had hired a couple off-duty deputies for security, but he did not know who was filming and did not ask.
Jeep has numerous new vehicles entering production this year, and its Big Game commercial could highlight the brand's entrance into electrification with the 4xe Wrangler — with that bridge representing a crossing from gasoline to electricity. Or it could continue to promote Gladiator, which was the only vehicle in Jeep's stable last year that showed a sales gain. Moreover, the brand could even highlight its powerful 392 Wrangler as a rebuttal to Ford's new Bronco.
Under CMO Oliver Francois, Jeep has quite a history with commercials in the Big Game, including last year's edition featuring Bill Murray reprising his role as Phil Connors from the popular Groundhog Day movie. Murray, a groundhog named Poppy and the brand’s Gladiator truck went through a series of adventures based off the film during the commercial — all designed to show off the vehicle’s rugged capability.
The ad was a hit with viewers and reviewers, and consistently ranked as the best one out of 62 commercials from last year’s game. It also received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Commercial.
Incidentally, last year’s ad was shot only one week previous to its release, so Jeep has something of a track record quickly moving from shoot, to post production and release.
Other Jeep ads during the Big Game over the past several years include “Crusher” that featured a 1960s-ish Gladiator being crushed flat before transforming into the new Gladiator edition, “Jurassic” featuring Jeff Goldblum reprising his Jurassic Park character fleeing from a Tyrannosaurs Rex in a 2018 Wrangler JL and “Anti-Manifesto” which saw Jeep unveil its redesigned Wrangler JL, traversing water and climbing rocks as a performance visual instead of “grandiose” speeches other car ads make.
Jeep is only the third auto brand to confirm a spot in this year’s game, following General Motors, which is running two ads (including a corporate spot and one for Cadillac) and Toyota.
